In 1998 Mystery released it’s third album ‘Destiny?‘ and re-mixed with an extra track in 2009, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the album. According to the band’s website, the album was now available as it was meant to be heard. The line up was Gary Savoie (lead and backing vocals), Michel St-Père (guitars, bass, keyboards), Patrick Bourque (fretted and fretless bass guitars) and Steve Gagné (drums).
Musically the band at this point could be best described as a blend of neo, symphonic, and heavy prog. I would also say there’s some moments of AOR to give the band an accessible feel. As I stated in my review of their 2007 album, Beneath The Veil Of Winter’s Face, have elements of bands like Rush and Journey to name a few. In fact, Gary Savoie sounds uncannily like Steve Perry, especially on “Queen Of Vajra Space“, which is one of my favorites of the album. I first heard this song on the first Unicorn Digital sampler, ‘Progression In Balance, Volume 1 (2004).
Another favorite of mine is the epic of the album, "Shadow of the Lake", which clocks in at over 15 minutes. But the entire album is as perfect as can be. I honestly feel this should have had a lot more exposure since like even in the lengthy songs, the content is prime choice. Had I heard this back when it first was released, I would classify it as one of the best releases of the year.
In this expanded version of the album, the band adds to the original track list, a bonus song “Heaven Can Wait“, which is the most accessible sounding of all the album. It‘s also a very beautiful ballad, which closes the album perfectly in my opinion. Michel’s guitar solo ranks up there along side the great guitarists of the genre, like Steve Rothery and Alex Lifeson to name a few.
In closing, ‘Destiny?‘ is one of the few bands that doesn’t have the typical neo-prog sound. Mainly because the band breaks a few cliques of the genre to bring something fresh as it was in 1998 and in 2009. Highly recommended for fans of the aforementioned bands as well as melodic progressive rock.
Reviewed by Ron Fuchs on March 6th, 2010
