Mystechs, Warriors & Warlocks

On the press release for the Mystechs, it says they attempted to create an “opera about an unfortunate teenage soul who can no longer distinguish Dungeons and Dragons from reality” on Warriors & Warlocks. Hmm.

Good news first: there is some competent banjo picking on “Zombie Mountain,” and the obvious punk influence of “Sweet 666teen” creates some semblance of normalcy. Other than that, it’s terrible. Their cover of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” starts off interestingly, with a slinky techno groove, but it never leaves the ground or has any real passion. None of the songs on Warriors & Warlocks have any real passion or intensity. All the instrumentation is bare and uninteresting, as if no one in the band had any proficiency with any instrument but all were able to hit a one-two beat on the drums and strum a few power chords. Every word is well-enunciated and more said than sung, as if it were a line from a middle-school play. I can imagine how a live show could be interesting (especially if they had props, a la Spinal Tap, for their many songs of elven mischief and gothic zombies), but for listening, don’t bother.