Artist: Evil Masquerade
Label: Escape Music
Release: year
Rating: 3/5
The sound alone, and the polish of the new album from Danish “power” metallers Evil Masquerade, tops anything the band has done before. Evil Masquerade have put together songs with a red thread running through them, with well-crafted motifs and switch-ups that never cut into the flow of the tracks themselves. In short: easy to listen to. They shine again in technical finesse, this time more than ever. The songs are red-hot, the double kick drums shifted into “full throttle” gear, and hello, Vikings! Let’s get to it!
The band definitely can’t hide its flirtation with classic Rainbow. Vocal duties go to newcomer Apollo Papathanasio (ex-Time Requiem), who replaces Henrik Brockmann, and that turned out to be a seriously smart investment, because the new singer brings more warmth and an even bigger dose of melody to Evil Masquerade’s music, with his hot-blooded Mediterranean melos. That now moves the band closer to the modern trends power metal has reached in its field today. Apollo must have had Ronnie James Dio as one of his big influences, too. And right away the title track is an interesting “cross over” between the legacy of Y. J. Malmsteen, which Flyman is responsible for, especially with his habit of falling back on those typical supersonic, ripping baroque arpeggios in the guitar flourishes, and Dio-era Rainbow. Third Act even reminds you in places of Rainbow’s Kill The King, thanks to the way the singer himself handles the vocal parts! Bring On The World sounds dangerously close to the Rainbow classic Gates Of Babylon. Here and there across the whole record you can’t shake the feeling that the guys were inspired by the early Rainbow work the entire time, even though “Third Stage” is a very modern power metal album. The keyboards are typically Scandinavian and make no secret of their kinship with a whole range of bands, from Stratovarius to Children Of Bodom. If you ask the band to pick the peak of the record, it’ll surely be the mid-tempo, highly atmospheric I’ll Make You Burn, which somehow can’t surprise a seasoned listener, since it walks so cheerfully in the footsteps of late Black Sabbath. Still, that “chopped-off” guitar and “yelped-out” vocal are, in one word, simply brilliant. All the same, that majestic warrior-epic vibe the band manages to create pulls you in and wins you over, which is only good and positive.
With all these comparisons, you start to get a little scared that the whole thing brings absolutely nothing new to the world of music! Still, everything on the album is played flawlessly, convincingly, the riffs and passages are big and grab you on the first listen. The vocal is explosive and extremely melodic. Evil Masquerade are among the more complex power metal bands. Malmsteen’s baroque leaps, the classic “proto hard rock” forms of good old Rainbow, dressed up in a modern power metal look. Evil Masquerade have caught up with the rest of the bands in their genre and carved out a bit of recognizability with it. Technically they belong at the top of the power metal scene. Speed is their strength! “Third Act” is an album tailor-made for fans of classic arrangements “scraped raw” over “distorted,” vampirized metal sounds, backed by dangerous torpedoing drums and an operatically crafted, melodically punchy vocal always at the center.
Evil Masquerade have put out their third album. After two seriously average, cliché-tinged ones, they’re back with a new one. Luckily, this one is a far more convincing product than its predecessors. The band’s leader, the excellent guitarist Henrik Flyman, was determined to level up, and he at least partly managed to peel the band off the “cliché” label! Worth the experience. Evil Masquerade have the potential, and every condition to keep developing and building on it!
Line-up
Apollo Papathanasio – vocals
Henrik Flyman – guitar, backing vocals
Thor Jeppesen – bass
Dennis Buhl – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
David Rosenthal – keyboards
Richard Andersson – keyboards
Production
Henrik Flyman
Tracklist
1. The Devil’s Last Temptation
2. Third Act
3. Black Raves Cry
4. Descended From the Grave
5. Far Away
6. The Dark Minstrel Plays
7. I’ll Make You Burn
8. Under the Surface of Water
9. Orchestration For More Than One Horn
10. Bring On the World
11. The Final Goodbye
Running time: 44.30
