Review: “Q3” EP by Mind Power

It’s been 3 months since their previous EP “Q2” and having featured guest appearances from John Henry of Darkest Hour and Rob Fusco of One King Down and Most Precious Blood  on “Q1”, Mind Power from Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania who feature former members of A Life Once Lost, Dead End Path, Ligeia and Bring The Heat have brought “Q3” to the plate with a guest appearance on each and every track!

Screaming out of the gate with a blistering riff with a second guitar creating an off kilter sirens call effect behind it, “See Me” thunders in with all those aspects that create the Mind Power sound. Stuccato riff patterns bounce around in a dark atmospheric with a hint of Metalcore and even some classic Metal lead parts towards the closing. Cory Brandon of Norma Jean fame adds a more pitch contrast to the unclean vocals of Robert Meadows ferocious throat disintegrating roar with a more melodic tone to his part that allows the band to provide a more melodic background themselves. After an eerie bridge “Grounded” brings in some jarring guitar work with a similarly haunting tone being it to the opening track. The undeniable groove of Mind Power is fantastic and this cut is a fine example of that as the lyrics call for a moment of peace from the Demonic thoughts. Frontierer frontman Chad Kapper has more of a Hardcore vocal style on this cut with similarities to what Rob Fusco has done before and that ties the Q1 neatly to Q3.

Reuniting Vexes guitarist Bob Carpenter with his former A Life Once Lost band mate Robert Meadows is a fine touch and the two complement each other as they did previously perfectly on “Frail Man”. Vexes work the atmospherics really well and while the previous pair of tunes from Mind Power do this, it’s pushed harder this time out with a haunting undercurrent designed to make you feel uneasy underneath the majority of the tune. It’s a horror film soundtrack of a tune with the music mirroring the black lyrical content and agonised vocals. When it cuts back from a solo into a lead flourish that ignites a Meshuggah esq breakdown before the close there are simply no words. It’s that good. The only track to include clean vocals, “Put Out This Fire” surprises with Chris Margarite of TIME changing the gears and giving a melodic break to an otherwise brutal track. The brief introductory almost buried aspect falls away to some brutal rhythm guitar work with a second buried guitar providing a nuanced lead part that comes out of the mix over multiple listens. The guitars then switch over for a verse as Chris Margarite provides a moment of beauty and they don’t change back into that heavier tone for Meadows following verse, instead driving to a fade that sees an almost industrial atmospheric part appear out of nowhere and some more clean vocals from Margarite. It’s a wonderful way to bridge Q3 into Q4 and sets things up for that final chapter [8.5/10]

Track listing

01. “See Me” (feat. Cory Brandan of Norman Jean)
02. “Grounded” (feat. Chad Kapper of Frontierer)
03. “Frail Man” (feat. Bob Carpenter of Vexes, ex-A Life Once Lost)
04. “Put Out This Fire” (feat. Chris Margarite of TIME, etc.)

“Q3” by Mind Power is out now and available via bandcamp