Femme-Metal Friday: Edge of Paradise “Mystery”

Photo credit: Val Rassi

Although I do a lot of writing about the female-fronted metal scene, it is impossible to know about every band out there, and admittedly, there are even some of the more popular ones that I'm not as familiar with as one might expect. I try to keep up with the latest names who are making a splash, but the great thing about the scene is that it is so diverse, and there is always something new to discover.

One name that has kept popping up on my radar for some time—over the past year, at any rate—was Edge of Paradise, a band from my hometown of Los Angeles. Several of my friends and fellow writers gave this band great praise, but I had not found the time to check them out for myself—until a friend told me the band was playing in the town where I live now, an area that seldom ever gets good rock shows, let alone any femme-metal gigs.

Suffering from concert withdrawals for nearly a year, and excited by the prospect of getting to discover some new music, I decided that the time had come to finally give this band a proper listen. As everyone else does these days, I looked to YouTube and found the most recent video, which is the song I am reviewing here.

The song “Mystery” is a lovely ballad with some spiritual overtones, and the video complements the song's fragile loveliness by not being too overwhelming or over-the-top. The video itself shows vocalist Margarita Monet sitting at a piano, playing a haunting melody. The rest of the band is dimly illuminated and wreathed in clouds of smoke, so you only ever see their silhouettes and are never distinctly visible. There are some close-up of Margarita either sitting at the piano or singing directly to the camera (what a voice she's got, by the way!), but she is the only person we see clearly throughout the video.

At video's end, a message reads that the song is in memory of someone; the YouTube comments mention that the in memoriam is for Margarita's cousin that passed away. As I cannot get official confirmation on that at this time, I will say simply that whoever it was for, it was a lovely tribute. After hearing this song, I viewed several other videos of theirs, but this song continued to stand out for me, and why I decided to review it as opposed to one of their heavier or more popular tracks. It probably goes without saying, but I will say it anyway: I am glad I finally got around to listening to this band, and look forward to seeing them rock my metal-deficient town this Saturday!

For more information on Edge of Paradise, visit their official website.

Special thanks to John Thornburgh.