Mystery Blue was one of a handful of French traditional metal bands to make a bit of noise in the mid-eighties, curiously one of the few French bands to appear on the cult French label Axe Killer with their debut album in 1984. Like a lot of young bands in those days, they flamed out after a time and split up after recording two albums. A decade later (1996), guitarist Frenzy Philippon recruited a new version of the band, now fronted by female vocalist Nathalie Geyer, and since then they've released three albums. Their latest, 2006's Claws Of Steel, show that they're still rooted in 80's traditional metal, European for sure but not the happy Germanic power metal style. Geyer's vocals are somewhat unique, and probably a polarizing element of the band (in other words, a love 'em or hate 'em proposition) -- she's clearly not an angelic soprano, and she's definitely not a death metal vocalist, instead she opts for a more traditional 80's screaming sound with some semi-operatic warbling thrown in. At times she's comfortable and confident and fits perfectly, at other times she's just a bit too much. She's really the only unique element to the band, as the music is competently written and played but really nothing unusual, even for power metal. So, not the most essential band on the planet, but enjoyable enough.