MYSTIC-FORCE - Take Command LP HRR 977LP, 425gsm heavy cardboard cover, 4 page insert 1st pressing: ltd 500, 250 x black + 250 x solid red vinyl 2nd pressing: ltd 500, 150 x black + 350 x splatter vinyl Bobby Hicks - vocals Rich Davis - guitar Keith Menser (R.I.P. 2022) - bass/keyboards Chris Lembach - drums 01 Take Command 02 Awakened by the Dawn 03 Immortal Souls 04 Silent but Deadly 05 Shipwrecked with the Wicked (1990 Demo) 06 Eternal Quest (1990 Demo) 07 Blind Vision (1988 Demo) 08 Dethroned (1988 Demo) 1st pressing: last copies! 2nd pressing: April 24th

Audio restoration and mastering by Patrick W. Engel at TEMPLE OF DISHARMONY in September 2024. Mystic Force were a progressive power metal band from Baltimore in Maryland. After recording a few demo tapes they went on to sign with German label Rising Sun Productions releasing two full-length albums: »The Eternal Quest« (1993) and »A Step Beyond« (1995). This was followed by »Man Vs. Machine« on the band’s own Siegen Records in 2001. After the demise of Mystic Force, drummer Chris Lembach and guitarist Rich Davis formed the band Shift and recorded two albums with them. After that Rich started his own solo project (playing all the instruments himself and even singing), before he once again got a band together and released the »Inside The Upside Down« CD (2024). Mystic Force were originally formed in 1984 by guitarists Rich Davis and Marc Rouchard together with bass player Keith Menser. The band went through several line-up changes early on before finding Chris Lembach (drums) and Bobby Hicks (vocals). In 1987, the band issued their first demo tape featuring the songs “Stage Struck”, “Dethroned”, “With Rank Comes Rule” and “Burn The Sky”. This was followed by another tape release, »Blind Vision« in 1988, including the song “Blind Vision” and once again “Dethroned” (recorded with Drew Mazurek at High View Studio). Having sold huge quantities of their self-financed demo tapes (the first four-track cassette was said to have shifted no less than 5,000 copies) it was time for Mystic Force to come up with their first vinyl release. This was realized in 1990 through C.M.F.T. Records in England. The original »Take Command« album featured the 1987 4-track demo on Side B and four brand new compositions on the A-Side: “Take Command”, “Awakened By The Dawn”, “Immortal Souls” and “Silent But Deadly”. “To tell you the truth I’m not sure how we found our way to C.M.F.T.,” reflects guitarist Rich Davis. “I know it was Keith who made that connection happen. As for how many copies were printed, I have no clue. The recordings for this were all done with engineer Drew Mazurek at his home studio. We soon found out that we would continue using Drew for »The Eternal Quest« album as well as the »Man Vs. Machine« album.” With the help of Oliver Jung with his “Demolition” distribution network, Mystic Force were already pretty well-known in European underground metal circles. With a vinyl release in the bag and C.M.F.T. now handling their affairs in the UK, the band was going from strength to strength. Rich Davis explains: “We did so many interviews and all of that. Over the phone interviews were a lot of them. I remember staying up late with Keith because of the time differences and doing the interviews. The language differences made it very difficult to understand each other, but they were so exciting for us.” Later the same year Mystic Force issued the 12” single “Shipwrecked With The Wicked”/”Eternal Quest” on their own Pro-duction label, a limited edition numbered vinyl. “We were always printing something,” smirks Rich Davis. “It went from tape to vinyl to CD. Whatever the technology was at the time, then that was what we were putting our music on. Constantly promoting. We were a promoting machine.” Certainly true. And very well put! “Shipwrecked With The Wicked” surely was the best song Mystic Force had written up to that point in their career. It had “single” written all over it, a very energetic and extremely catchy piece of music. “’Shipwrecked With The Wicked’ was definitely one of our biggest songs,” agrees the guitarist. “I hold that song very dear to my heart because that was one song that I can so clearly remember playing on stage standing right beside Keith through the middle section of the song. It was the highlight of out set for sure. It makes me think of Keith [who died in 2022"> and Bobby [who left this world in 2013"> and of course William [who passed away in 2020">. Chris and I are so devastated having lost so many Mystic brothers.” A year later, in 1991, an “official bootleg” cassette called »Stagestruck … Live« was issued. Rich Davis has the details: “The »Stagestruck … Live« tape was something put together by Demolition Records, Germany, after owner Oliver came to visit us and we were playing a show at the local club ‘Hammerjacks’ and then another show at ‘Zaxx’ in Virginia.” Rich’s memory is very livid when he thinks back to the two shows in Baltimore and Springfield: “I do remember them. It was always a real treat to play ‘Hammerjacks’. When we were headlining there we would bring in our own castle stage set. We had such a cool set up. The drums were 8’ in the air, we had ramps, fire, explosions and a monk that would come out and light the torches. So much fun. We got so good at setting it all up. We could set it all up in under 30 minutes.” And how was the atmosphere within the band during the 1989-1991 period? Was it the band’s big goal to sign a professional deal with a record company, possibly with a major label in the USA? “That was always a goal for us,” confirms the guitarist. “So many bands start out with that goal in mind, and when they don’t make it to that level give up and quit. We were always hopeful but realistic too. We were happy for whatever success we had. For years we just wanted to play. That was it. No expectations. Just play. Build a fan base and have fun. Maybe that’s why we stayed together for as long as we did. We always set goals and pushed ourselves to meet them as close as we could. Keith Menser was such a huge part of our success. He was the one in the band who knew from the very beginning that we needed to be bigger then just a Baltimore band. To reach out as far as we can with our music. That was Keith. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be doing this interview. You would have never heard of Mystic Force. It was Keith’s dream to have the record deal happen. And now it has, but sadly after he has passed. Nothing is sadder to me then that. This is all dedicated to him.” MATTHIAS MADER