MYSTICITY Ambassadors Of The Hidden Sun Tessilque Music Mysticity's debut CD Ambassadors of the Hidden Sun (limited edition) is out now and available. The album features such names as Doogie White, Bobby Rondinelli and Derek Sherinian. The hard rock release is an independent recording from start to finish. Chris Melekyan is the man behind this project. The guitarist/multi-instrumentalist and composer was born & raised in Eastern Europe and now lives in Los Angeles. Although clearly a rock musician, he has a vast wealth of experience with classical and Eastern European ethnic music styles. There is a unique flavor that he brings to the music from this background. You think "making it" in music is hard? Try attempting it in a place and time where the government has the power to censor, ban or even criminalize your efforts to express yourself. Chris Melekyan knows this all too well. In addition to Human Racehorses, Chris is the mastermind behind Mysticity, an incredible instrumental prog rock project. When he was young Chris lived behind The Iron Curtain. He bought from his first monthly salary a Rainbow LP and it was a dream to see them live one day, let alone play a chord with them. Now nearly 25 years later Chris's dream has come true with the release of Mysticity's debut CD "Ambassadors of the Hidden Sun", featuring Rainbow's Doogie White and Bobby Rondinelli. Chris Melekyan has on this CD a very nice sound with a lot Rainbow/Deep Purple influences. It's a good hardrock album with a great 70's/80's Blackmore feel. Another strong point is the vocals, mainly provided by non other than Doogie White. Doogie White is present on 9 of the 11 tracks with his characteristic voice you recognize right away. The album has many good rocksongs but also two excellent ballads and an instrumental. The last song of the album "Mirage in Bahrain" is sung by Chris and his brother. On the title track "Ambassadors of the Hidden Sun" another Rainbow ace is present. Bobby Rondinelli does the drums. It's a fine rockin' song. Just like the following track, "Rain", that has some excellent guitar work. Doogie proves he can sing a ballad very well too. Twice he does that on this album with "Dad Is Gone" & "With And Without You". One of the strongest tracks is "Ambassadors' Departure". It's instrumental with some great guitarwork and excellent keyboard stuff by Derek Sherinian. The tracks with Doogie on vocals are all good rock songs including two excellent ballads. The sound maybe grabs back a bit to the good old 70's/80's rockstyle, but that's no surprise when you have a Blackmore sound from that era as target. It's very enjoyable though. The last track of the album "Mirage In Bahrein" has a very good eastern feel. It's the only track not sung by Doogie White. In this song it's Chris and his brother who take care of the vocals. Maybe not as classy as Doogie's voice but still a fine track. After a few spins I really started to like this album. It has good tracks, great vocals by Doogie White and also Bobby Rondinelli is present on one of the tracks which make a very interesting for Rainbow fans. The CD might be hard to find in the shops, but you can buy it direct from Chris Melekyan (via PayPal) or as a Digital Download from Amazon. There are samples on the Mysticity Website and even some complete songs on You Tube. Tracks: 1. Revolution 2. Ambassadors Of The Hidden Sun 3. Rain 4. Regret 5. Dad Is Gone 6. Home Sweet Home 7. With And Without You 8. Crises 9. Visions 10. Ambassadors' Departure 11. Mirage In Bahrein Line-up: Chris Melekyan - guitars, keyboards, vocals (track 11) Doogie White - vocals J. Montgomery - drums Guest appearances: Bobby Rondinelli - drums (track 2) Derek Sherinian - keyboards (track 10) Djivan Gasparian Jr. - duduk (track 10) H. Melekyan - vocals (track 11) Links: * Mysticity Website * Mysticity MySpace * Mysticity Facebook