MASK

Dear progVisions readers, first a preliminary note. If you have been following progVisions' Facebook posts, you will know that yours truly, as graphic designer, videographer and web developer, has been involved in this fine Dutch Progressive Rock project. So I leave the judgement on these matters to the other reviewers.

"Mask" is the debut album by The Foundation, a new Dutch Prog project led by Ron Lammers. "Mask" is a concept album based on an autobiographical story. It's a chronological representation of human life. The Foundation is founded by Ron Lammers. In the late 90's he started with Sietse Dijkstra and Marcel Kerkdijk to compose and record some prog songs. Unfortunately due personal circumstances they had to split up. In the meantime Ron Lammers started Xymphonia Records and released albums from the Dutch bands Plackband and Timelock. In 2020 Ron bought a proper keyboard and he composed the concept album "Mask".

We are born to love. We learn to hate. It's up to us what we reach for !

""Mask" is a concept album based on an autobiographical story. It's a chronological representation of human life. It starts innocently when we are born. We are expected by the outside world but also by our parents to prove ourselves and to strive more and more for a better position in society. Either financially or in terms of prestige. As a result, we are blinded by reality and lose sight of what really matters in life. This can even lead to despair. Take off your mask and choose for love. This can lead to a conversion to faith. Therefore you are filled with love and positivity. Take your responsibility and manage your mistakes and look positively to the future". Concept by Ron Lammers

Music by: Ron Lammers ( 1-9 ) Gijs Koopman ( 9 ) Jan Munnik ( 4,7,8 ) Marcel Kerkdijk ( 6 )

Lyrics by: Mark Smit ( 3,4,7,8,9 ) Ron Lammers ( 6 )

Mark Smit - Vocals; Rinie Huigen - Electric & Acoustic guitars; Jens van der Valk - Guitars & EBow; Aad Bannink - Solo guitar (8); Gijs Koopman - Bass, Taurus Pedals, Keyboards (9); Sjoerd Bearda - Violin; Judith van der Valk - Flute; Jan Grijpstra - Drums; Jan Munnik - Keyboards; Ron Lammers - Keyboards

The album opens with "Before The Dawn" (4:30) that has an atmospheric opening with nice full keyboard strings and Mellotron flutes. The broad keyboard layers of Ron Lammers are later accompanied by fat Moog Taurus bass pedals, played by meastro Gijs Koopman, and the fine Electric guitar parts of Jens van der Valk. This strong opening of the album flows seamlessly into the track "Birth" (3:13) which is already announced with a sound sample of a laughing baby. The atmospheric keyboard opening with the bass pedals and melodic guitar parts reminds me slightly of the music of German band Eloy. Then we get sucked in with the beautiful melodies, which can be found throughout this album. Besides the keyboard parts, Rinie Huigen's melodic guitar work is worth mentioning. Jan Grijpstra's drums are tight and refreshing but serve the music. This actually applies to the entire album.

The first part of the following triptych is titled "Climbing Mountains" (5:00). This uptempo song pops right in. This is also the first song to contain lyrics. And I am delighted that, in my opinion, the best Prog singer in the Netherlands has joined this fine project. Of course, I am talking about Mark Smit. Where bassist Gijs Koopman was united with his buddy Rinie Huigen from the Dutch band Cliffhanger, Mark Smit is reunited on this album with his companions Gijs Koopman and Rinie Huigen from his Knight Area period. These outstanding musicians really inspired each other. "Climbing mountains" develops as a beautiful song with fantastic vocals with lovely and catchy choruses. In the song, you can also hear the beautiful contributions of Judith van de Valk on flute and Sjoerd Bearda on violin.

In the slow vocal opening of the next song "Blind To Reality" (4:51), Mark Smit's voice comes into its own even better. Lovely to be able to understand a singer word for word. And from experience, I know that Mark Smit can also do this in a live setting. But soon the music becomes more hectic. You can hear two guitarists on this song Jens van der Valk and Rinie Huigen. At first, they have their own spots to shine, but at the end, they come together and then the music gets really interesting, a real guitar duel unfolds between the two styles. Very nicely done, a lovely song.

In the instrumental "Despair"(3:38), the guitar style of Jens van der Valk, who of course we know from his band Autumn, is really on point. The music is often uncomfortable and it chafes a bit. At the end, both guitarists are completely let loose and we go to a climax musically. You can clearly hear here that Ron Lammers gave the musicians a mission on the one hand but on the other also gave them the freedom to bring their own input to the music. It's a fierce song that might not be appreciated by everyone. But given the storyline of the concept, this song had to be there and it's in the right place.

Then it's time for the album's magnus opus, the title track "Mask" (12:13). For me, this track of epic proportions is the absolute highlight of this fine album. A little memory comes up now, a few years ago Ron showed me an old demo of this track. Surprised that Ron had composed music at all and hearing the potential what was in that old first demo back then, I said, you should actually do something with that. And he certainly did the latter, and since he asked me to take care of the artwork, I was in the privileged position of closely following the process from demos to the final product. "Mask" opens with beautiful keyboard melodies backed by deep Taurus bass pedal sounds. And when Rinie Huigen joins in with his melodic guitar playing, the song develops as a beautiful symphonic rock song. With Gijs Koopman on bass and Jan Grijpstra, The Foundation has a delightful rhythm section. Vocalist Mark Smit takes this song to an even higher level with his beautifully sung vocals. In between those beautiful vocal sections, you hear delicious synth and guitar solos. The melodies in this track are very strong. Rinie Huigen convinces with his melodic guitar playing. And Ron Lammers and Jan Munnik treats us with lovely melodic keyboard playing. Also want to give Mark Smit a compliment. On most vocal tracks, he has been given the freedom to give his own input. He did that so well and passionately that he was given full credit for these lyrics, but on the title track, the lyrics are Ron Lammers' own and Mark has made them his own and sings them beautifully and with full commitment. The end of the song is also very nice with a nice contribution from Sjoerd Bearda on violin. "Look into your heart". Only for this song you have to buy this album

The next song is called "Renewal" (4:33) and opens with a slow and delicate piano melody, backed by violin in the background. But soon the song develops as an uptempo song with a positive vibe. Besides beautiful guitar and synth solos, you can also enjoy Judith van der Valk's beautiful flute playing here.

"Unconditional (for Betty)" (4:02) is a special song in every way. First, the song was written especially for Betty, Ron's wife. It is the first song that has been finished and mixed. It is also the song for which Ron commissioned me to make a lyric video. All this to be able to offer this first mixed song together with the lyric video to his wife Betty. He finally told her what he had been doing in his music room for the past year. It turned out to be a beautiful song. A song with single qualities. It's accessible enough for all music lovers, not just die-hard Prog fans. After the lovely keyboard strings and throbbing Taurus bass pedals, this song develops into a wonderfully melodic ballad which is sung fantastically by Mark Smit. Because I had to make the lyric video I listened to this song many times and I have to admit that it never got boring. But this last comment applies to the entire album. This is also one of the strengths of this remarkable album. "Unconditional (for Betty)" is a wonderful song.

The positive vibe that started with the songs "Renewal" and "Unconditional" comes into its own in the closing song of this album "Future" (7:21). A track to which Gijs Koopman has made a major contribution. Gijs also plays keyboards on this song. A song with a positive outlook on the future. Musically it is a beautiful closing track with melodic vocal parts, driving bass work and wonderful and melodic synth solos by Ron. The keyboard work on this closer is full and always melodic. Before the last vocal part you can hear a beautiful piece full of keys and an intensity that slowly goes to a climax. This is how I know my friend Ron, when we enjoy music together. A nice ending to a remarkable album.

Usually I don't write a review for an album that I've done the artwork for (eg the last three Anima Mundi releases). But the musicians of this project convinced me that I didn't interfere with the music at all (only I enjoyed following this process and seeing it grow into a beautiful end product full of quality). So I started it the same way, writing while listening to the song in question. I wrote the review more from the point of view of the music and not from the concept which I mentioned above in the intro. You can read this again on the "Mask" page of The Foundation's website. As mentioned earlier "Mask" is the debut album of The Foundation, a progressive rock project made in the Netherlands and featuring renowned Dutch musicians from our Prog scene. Supplemented with a few enthusiastic musicians from Ron Lammers' group of friends. The renowned musicians come from the band Autumn or have a past in Knight Area and Cliffhanger. It is nice to see that these musicians inspire and enthuse each other. And together they brought out the best in each other under the leadership of Ron Lammers. This has resulted in an album with a level of quality that is not usual for a Dutch product. The album is not innovative if you only look at what the term Progressive Rock means. But that was not the intention at all. Would rather describe "Mask" as an album full of beautiful Symphonic Rock and melodic music.

One of the strengths of this album is that it is recognizable as melodic Symphonic Rock but musically it has its own style. That's why I was only able to give one reference and that for an intro of a song. Of course you have to think of Knight Area when you hear the vocals of Mark Smit. But this was the mark he pressed on their music. It is a consistent and varied album with no weaknesses. Highlights for me are of course the long title track "Mask" but also songs like "Climbing Mountains", "Blind To Reality", "Unconditional" and "Future" score high. I would like to give Jan Munnik an extra compliment on this one. Besides playing (together with Ron) the keys on songs like "Blind To Reality", "Mask", "Renewal" and "Unconditional" and some additional keys on other songs, he also took care of the mix and mastering of the album. Especially when you know that this is actually his first symphonic rock album (Autumn's music is more in the heavy segment of (Prog)Rock), he has done a fantastic job in his own M4-Studio. "Mask" sounds fantastic. In addition to all those beautiful contributions from all musicians, the violin and flute expand the sound palette even further, you would almost forget the main composer and creator (Ron Lammers) of this concept. But I am really impressed with his compositions and skills on the keyboards. With this fantastic album he makes his childhood dream come true. "Mask" is a highlight in the rich history of Dutch Symphonic Rock. Highly recommended by progVisions.

Rating progVisions: 4,5 points out of 5.

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