Degradations : "Masque"

 

 This band from Atlanta has added a more significant layer of atmosphere to their normally heavy-handed hybrid of death metal, hard core and sludge. Their newest album came out last month. While they are one of the more significant names of bands trying to break out of the city's music scene. They occupy a weird middle ground of being too close to Lamb of God in their sonic sphere to appeal to the hardcore scene that holds court in New York City. They have plenty of groove but lack the hooks of a Gojira. The first two songs on this album kinda ran together as they steam roll with a rather uniform chug. The sung vocals that reappear in "the Silver Hand" occupy a similar space. They give their chant in the back of the mix, not unlike what Fear Factory used to do. The cadence of the vocals feels like they are trying to emulate what Mastodon did when they first introduced actual singing in the mix. 

To this band's credit some of their earlier worked sound like they were trying to bridge thrash with older Mastodon, which is a tempting bandwagon for a band from Atlanta to climb on, here they have come into their own, which is an important x factor. There is a really cool riff leading into "Iron and Flame" though the rule around here, is "cool riffs alone does not a good song make." However, they use the songs momentum to win me over in this regard. The guitars begin to come into their own in terms of creating memorable melodies, which is crucial for them since the vocals are more often just a guttural exclamation.  They pick the pace up to a more death metal thrashing on "Bad Batch". I do not think the more extreme side of metal plays to their strengths, they are capable of playing the notes, but it rushes by me without leaving a mark. They split the difference between the grooving memorable riffs and the more overt hammering on " Deathclaw". There is a subtle dissonance in the riff this song builds toward that I appreciate as it is darker.  

"Son of Dawn" finds them exploring more melodic sounds. It is sad these are wasted on an interlude rather than integrating this sort of thing into an actual song. I think it would be a bolder artistic statement rather than playing it safe by sticking within the excepted bound of what heavy metal should be doing in 2022.  While metal core has been around since the days of Myspace, the shelf of the genre is more likely to expire as trends changes. Going against the grain is what metal should be about. The vocals show promise on the last song, but this is something that would have been better spent in broader strokes throughout this album.  There are experimental flourishes that are highlighted by the excellent production value invested into the album. In other words, it sounds great, but nothing new is being brough to the table I do not hear from hundred other bands in my in-box every week. Despite this fact I will give this record an 8, it's solid slab of metal that is well executed and there is certainly an audience for this sort of thing, it is not an album I personally feel like I would return to as I prefer bands who take more risks and are a little darker.