Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
Subterranean Masquerade - Mountain Fever CD (album) cover

MOUNTAIN FEVER

Subterranean Masquerade

Experimental/Post Metal


From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Bookmark and Share
4 stars Subterranean Masquerade is the Israeli group founded in 1997, working in post prog metal, progressive neo metal rock'n'roll. Their first opus of 2005 surprised me with this experimental, psyche and dark prog bent. Their 4th is said to explore the countries modern, traditional music with brass from the Balkans, bouzouki, black metal and gospel, some traces of jazzy and folk, devastating riffs and a confusing orchestral side. Guests from Orphaned Land and Melechesh come to glorify this little gem, the notes of which I will tell you.

"Snake Charmer" on heavy melodic retro prog, catchy on the rhythmic, soft voice, powerful single, a bit of an all-rounder which follows with "Diaspora, My Love" ballad with a crescendo mixing prog metal and oriental sequence, final death-dark ā la Pain Of Salvation for the animal side, a very beautiful spleen guitar solo right in the middle before the band's signature and its growl voice. "Mountain Fever" and blazing brass intro, Doley's voice like that of Roy des Kamelots, then a groan that breaks the mood; melodic solo until a singular, confusing break, tribal with drums, violins, ideal for dancing in all directions, paradoxical sublime oriental section, musical oxymoron with chaos and sweetness, whisper and growl. "Inwards" and an intro from there, proven folk-troubadour, festive, sidereal sweetness, the oriental at the table with melody, then the riff and the voice of death which send heavy, bluesy solo, soft phrasing voice, jazzy , then it goes up, gets carried away, intense brass with sax, voice ā la Axl de Guns N'Roses, orgasmic squirt. "Somewhere I Sadly Belong" continues on the same rhythm at the beginning: then surge to infernal Holy Moses, raw death metal then rock cover again to Guns; singular mix, a gospel song and a Hammond organ saving from musical wreck for purists but a title which will not leave indifferent; very confusing.

"The Stillnox Oratory" vocal break with Dolev who provides here on a romantic ballad with finesse on piano and strings; grandiloquent, aerial guitar solo, fruity and divine; emotion in bars, synth break then heavier final with the return of a growl voice skilfully mixed with emotional rhythm, there is Faith No More in it, magical. "Ascend" it drops, organ, placed rhythm, Dolev's voice over several octaves, the single from the album with an obvious chorus and then this divine, joyful, tribal orchestral break, oxymorian rock; the 'Oioioi' makes you want to sing too. "Ya Shema Evyonecha" in Hebrew, I suspected, mystical and violent; growl, brass, riffs, world music brewed together; the whistle gives the start for a crazy break fusion where the balkans invite you with the violin to dance and make a pact, loudly! "For The Leader, With Strings Music" starts again on the violent and nervous death-black metal which shows the true face of the group; you held on, well done, the musical break that follows is one of the most beautiful, melodic, melancholy, intimate, the sax which also surprises for an over-vitamin crescendo. "Mångata" with guitar, bouzouki, ballad, nod to the former singer, nostalgic post rock for this reflection of the moon on the water; Idan from Orphaned Land coming to throw some notes and allow the title to rise, Pain Of Salvation coming back to me. Subterranean Masquerade hit hard by mixing a little more his musical influences; it's sweet, strong, singular, ethnic and musical, it's groove, death, dark, extreme; it is varied, raw, inventive and interrogative; a singular fusion, creator of dark-heavy prog in an inventive musical melting pot.

Report this review (#2545938)
Posted Thursday, May 27, 2021 | Review Permalink
5 stars I am going out on a limb here and say that Mountain Fever, Subterranean Masquerade's fourth full-length release, is the best progressive metal album I have listened to so far this year, together with Soen's new album Imperial. The Israeli combo has it all: extraordinary musicianship, infectious songwriting and tremendous arrangement abilities that allow them to naturally weave into their music an incredibly vast array of influences - from 70s progressive rock, to contemporary prog metal, to extreme metal, to Oriental folk music. Most importantly, Mountain Fever manages to assemble an impressive set of songs that are technically complex and yet incredibly accessible, perfectly blending power, melody, emotions and virtuosity.

Everything about Mountain Fever is impressive. There is a dazzling amount of styles, influences and ideas on display across its ten songs. The core of the music revolves around an exuberant and dynamic form of guitar-driven progressive metal not unlike that of Pain of Salvation, with music that moves incessantly through peaks and valleys conveying a wide range of emotions, and where power and technique are firmly put at the service of melody and soulfulness. But songs then suddenly explode in djenty metallic interludes and furious death metal assaults, bringing to mind bands like Caligula's Horse ("Ascend"), Opeth ("For the Leader, with Strings Music") and fellow countrymen Orphaned Land. Meanwhile, the softest passages hark back to the jazzy, vaguely psychedelic prog rock of the 1970s and of contemporary bands like The Flower Kings ("The Stilnox Oratory"). Elsewhere, the music is pervaded by strong oriental folk influences that emerge powerfully in songs like "Mountain Fever", "Ya Shema Evyonecha" and "Somewhere I Sadly Belong", the latter an exceptional Floydian piece combining harsh extreme vocals in the verse (courtesy of guest singer Ashmedi of Assyrian black metal band Melechesh) and gospel female singing in the soulful chorus (performed by British vocalist Jackie Hole).

You may think there is already enough meat on the bone here, but Subterranean Masquerade beg to differ, and add to the mix lush symphonic arrangements featuring cellos, violas, violins, woodwinds and brass, which inject incredible colour and variety into the music. The use of traditional percussions and instruments like the bouzouki, the oud and the lute achieves a similar effect and further strengthens the folk flavour of the music. Meanwhile, singer Davidavi "Vidi" Dolev (at his first full-length album with the band) puts in a massively histrionic performance that is as varied and creative as the music itself. His clean vocals are powerful and emotional, somewhat reminiscent of the magnificent Daniel Gildenlöw (Pain of Salvation). But he also resorts to earth-shaking death metal growls, operatic singing, semi-spoken vocals, and even throat singing, depending on the mood of the music.

A normal rock/metal band would have written at least three albums out of all the riffs, melodies and ideas that are included on Mountain Fever. A sloppy progressive metal band would have written one messy album that suffocates under the weight of its ambition. Subterranean Masquerade instead wrote the perfect album, seamlessly merging the myriad of ideas and influences into ten attention-grabbing, distinctive pieces of prog heaven that possess the exuberance and panache of the best work by Devin Townsend. This is one of those albums that work on many different levels: it is immediately likeable, you can headbang to it, even dance to it, but it also has so much depth in the arrangements that it retains immense value on repeat listens too, as every time the listener discovers new details and nuances that had not noticed beforehand.

Everything on Mountain Fever is pushed to impressive levels, from the clean and powerful production (which involves top sound engineers such as David Castillo, Jens Bogren and Tony Lindgren), to the amazing artwork by Costin Chioreanu (Leprous), to the intelligent and poetic lyrics penned by Vidi, to the impressive cast of guest musicians that includes, among others, drummer Matan Shmuely (Orphaned Land), who puts in a performance that is a masterclass in nuance and complexity, and lead guitars on "Mångata" by Idan Amsalem (also Orphaned Land).

Mountain Fever is the full package and has almost no faults and limitations. If I were to nitpick, the album slightly loses steam towards the end, where "Ya Shema Evyonecha" and the clean-vocal middle part of "For the Leader, with Strings Music" come across as slightly less inspired and somewhat self-indulgent compared to the rest of the material. But everything else, and the album as a whole, is so strong that this minor dip in quality is easily forgiven, also thanks to the strong emotional ride of closing track "Mångata".

If you are into progressive metal you really ought to give Mountain Fever a chance. It is easily one of the best albums that have come out in this genre in the past decade and a strong contender for best album of 2021 in my book. I am actually both embarrassed and excited that this is the first album by Subterranean Masquerade I ever listened to. Embarrassed because I cannot believe that I managed to overlook this incredibly talented bunch for so long (their first album dates back to 2005). Excited because I cannot wait to delve into the rest of the discography of this amazing band. If you do not yet know Subterranean Masquerade, I promise you will feel the same way after giving Mountain Fever a spin.

[Originally written for The Metal Observer]

Report this review (#2582324)
Posted Friday, July 30, 2021 | Review Permalink

SUBTERRANEAN MASQUERADE Mountain Fever ratings only


chronological order | showing rating only

Post a review of SUBTERRANEAN MASQUERADE Mountain Fever


You must be a forum member to post a review, please register here if you are not.

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password

Copyright Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.