I actually have barely listened to Masquerade, but everyone was so excited for this album, so I checked it out, as well as the rest of their stuff! When I saw photos of the band, I recognized the singer Suzi, she’s been on my ‘‘people you may know’’ on Facebook, haha! Okay, so let’s check out what these Finns are up to!
The album starts off with the intro Rhythm Zero, which gives off an instant Siouxsie / Xmal Deutschland vibe, with maybe just a hint of Skeletal Family. This definitely becomes more apparent with Russian Roulette. Love the lyrics on that one.
Next up is Savagery, which really has a rocking guitar sound, almost metal. In this song Suzi’s vocals do that thing I noticed on their first album, that I’m not super fond of. Not quite sure how to describe it, hopefully you know what I mean, lol.
Faraway Lands has haunting guitars and pretty sad lyrics.
Too Depressed To Dance is pretty funny, I have to say. I guess it’s a pretty self-ironic song. The music itself is very classic goth rock, so I think this is a song that many people will really like.
Zeitgeist has pretty unique drums, and the guitar almost sound like black metal to me, but still very gothic. The lyrics and vocals are pretty haunting too. A great song overall!
Tainted Tongue reminds me of Skeletal Family a lot! Definitely an old school vibe. Same with Hallucinating, really classic goth rock!
I really feel the lyrics of Mouths Sewn Shut. Fuck the mainstream, be yourself, express yourself and speak your mind!
They Are After Us also has the haunting, classic gothic sound like the rest of the album. With this the album ends, so it’s pretty short, only about 30 minutes - but I’m fine with that. If the album was to be longer, I would have liked a little more diversity in the songs, since I feel it might become boring if it was longer.
Like I said earlier, Masquerade has a very old school sound, not very polished. So if you’re a fan of Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Creatures, Xmal Deutschland, Skeletal Family, and similar bands, I definitely recommend this band!
Listen or buy the album on Bandcamp, check out their website, and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.