With the arrival of Железный Поток came the challenge of trying to decipher not one, but two unreadable logos. Albeit the one adorning the spine of the CD being in Russian, although even the font wasn’t obvious upon first glance.
Luckily then the press release translates into English, with Железный Поток being Russian for “Iron Stream”. Although without my Russian speaking friends to hand, I’m still none the wise as to how you actually pronounce the band’s official name!
As it turns out, Железный Поток have been around for a while, “Mystic” being their 6th album to date. Or potentially 7th studio release, given “Mystic” is a reworking of 2018’s “Мистик”, with the vocals having originally been sung in their mother tongue.
It’s always an interesting choice as to why a band would want to re-record and album into English, presumably to appeal to a wider audience. However, personally having also given the Russian version a listen for comparison, I’d be just as happy with the original.
As a result, being their only release to be fully translated, it does mean Железный Поток lose a bit of their own identity. Especially considering their debut came out back in 1991, so locally they would almost certainly have made a name for themselves.
That aside, “Mystic” is still a beast of an album, one for classic thrash metal fans. Given the era the band first emerged, they’re clearly inspired by their American peers. The likes of Death Angel, Exodus, Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax – albeit the latter to a lesser extent.
It’s a comparison not to be taken lightly, but there’s certainly a touch of early Metallica in there. I make the point of the word early too, as Железный Поток tend to be old school. There aren’t any gimmicks, this is straight-up metal, with a band who (singing in English aside) tend to stick to their roots.
Which if you’re into killer riffs, hard-ass drums and the odd guitar solo, it’s a formula that’s always going to spark an interest. After all, while “Mystic” may not be bringing anything new to your speakers, it’s still an album worthy of banging your head to.
