Krystal

Krystal were a Montréal hard-rock band active from at least 1990 through the end of the decade. The group’s principal lineup featured vocalist Mimmo Oliveri, guitarists Mario ‘Biff’ Biferali and Freddy Di Santo, bassist Mimmo Di Stefano and drummer Pauly Della Rocchetta. Their music combined melodic hard rock with blues, boogie and traditional rock-and-roll influences.

Guitarist Mario Biferali, born in Toronto and raised in Montréal’s east end, has described Krystal as the beginning of his professional career. The band’s early development was associated with Vince Marino, who managed or produced some of their initial work. Biferali later recalled that Krystal won a local competition and received an opportunity to tour Canada. During its performing years, the group shared stages with artists including Aldo Nova, I Mother Earth, Downchild Blues Band and Lee Aaron.

Krystal’s earliest known recording was a self-titled cassette released by Dance Plant Records in 1990. The cassette contained ‘Hearts in Disguise’ and ‘Home Again’, with both songs repeated on its second side. The band subsequently issued the cassette Beg, Borrow or Steal independently in 1992.

Their first full-length CD, Plug This!, appeared independently in 1994. Its guitar-driven material combined blues-oriented hard rock with straightforward rock and roll and included a version of Gary Moore’s ‘Movin’ On’. DeRock Records reissued the album in 1999 as DERCD-9016.

Krystal returned that year with Three Chords & a Song, issued by DeRock as DERCD-9017. Produced and arranged by the band, the album was recorded at Planet Studios, engineered by Sandro Bassani, mixed by Bassani and Krystal, and mastered at Soundtracks Studio in Montréal. Shahe Sinanoglu contributed keyboards and Kevin Gillespie played harmonica. All material was written by Krystal except Richie Supa’s ‘Chip Away the Stone’.

Although no later Krystal release has been documented, its members remained active in music. Biferali moved into solo recording, while Oliveri later became the frontman of the AC/DC tribute group 21 Gun Salute and developed his own solo material. Krystal’s small independent catalogue preserves the work of a Montréal band that continued to pursue blues-based, guitar-centred hard rock throughout a decade in which that style had largely moved outside the mainstream.

-Robert Williston