The Pitch: "Formed of luminary instrumentalists throughout the UK, Mask Of Judas bring a new age sensibility to the Progressive Metal genre, fusing together the thunderous eight string grooves with lead acrobatics alongside vocal influences that range from Soul and R’n’B to the outer perimeters of Death Metal, The Mesmerist is a trip through the genre kaleidoscope." FFO: The Fall Of Troy, Periphery, Eths
What I Like: Welcome Mask Of Judas into the growing pantheon of djenty progressive metalcore bands. This group has a lot of talent on display down to each and every member. For one, Jo Challen proves herselft to be an impressively versatile vocalist worthy of attention. Similar to acts like Eths, Jo delivers both captivating clean singing and absolutely vicious growls. She's like a female Spencer Sotello with a dash of The Mars Volta and sprinkling of Evanescence and Sevendust. I realise such comparisons may be divisive for some, but if soaring clean choruses are too normie for you the guitarwork is more than enough to make up for it. The riffs and solos on this album can be quite jaw-dropping (oh my, "Brand New Conquest"), warranting comparisons to everything from Protest The Hero ("Alive") to Sikth ("Sycophant"). It was this top tier musicianship that drew me in to begin with and kept me consistently engaged even when other songwriting choices weren't quite on point.
Critiques: Speaking of which, I could do without so many improvised-sounding vocal runs. It's not Celine Dion/Mariah Carey level showboating, but it still annoys me in the same way that later The Fall of Troy used to. Don't get me wrong, Jo has an incredible voice, but it doesn't always gel with the rest of the music as well as it could.
The Verdict: The Mesmerist proves Mask Of Judas to be a talent worth mining further. While it's not an album I see myself pondering for years to come, it's a solid effort that has made me a fan and will warrant investigation of further releases. Check out "The Conspirator" below and stream on all of the usual platforms now.
Flight's Fav's: Alive, Brand New Conquest, Sycophant
- Review by FlightOfIcarus
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