The Red Masque - Fossil Eyes (2008)

I bought the Mp3 version of Feathers for Flesh off of Amazon and loved it.

Well, I am in the band so obviously I am going to say, Yes ;)

That being said, I do feel it's our best work to date.

Here are some other reviews, of people not in the band, if you would like their opinion: http://theredmasque.com/fossileyes-reviews.html

Also we have some samples on our site for preview: http://theredmasque.com/fossil-eyes.html

Compared to Feathers the production is a little more organic, and the songs are heavier (though not heavier as in metal but heavier as in denser and more intense in parts). The songs are also generally shorter than on Feathers (average length is seven minutes as opposed to 12 min, though we do have one  long epic track as well). We also did several "intersessional" mood pieces that are short pieces that go inbetween the longer songs and overall this is much more of a concept album. I think listeners may want to listen to the album as almost a soundtrack to a film.

Anyway, hope this answers your questions somewhat. So far, the response from people who have bought the album, and also have Feathers has been very positive, so, I think if you like Feathers, you will most likely like this one as well.

Thanks
Lynnette

New reviews of our brand new album are starting to come in, including this one, by Pete Pardo of SeaofTranquility.org. Check it out: http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=6831

Red Masque, The: Fossil Eyes

You never quite know what you're going to get with Philadelphia's The Red Masque. This band loves to throw curveball after curveball at the listener with each release, drawing upon influences that cover the gamut of progressive rock, gothic, psychedelic, classic rock, and avant-garde styles. Their latest Fossil Eyes, and first for ReR/Ad Hoc Records, is no exception.

Opening track "The Spider is the Web" kicks things off in spectacular fashion, a beefy, almost 'metal' tinged rocker that is like a head on collision between Van Der Graaf Generator, Magma, and Isis, Brandon Lord Ross' humongous bass lines driving the arrangement while the slithery, crawling guitar licks from Andrew Kowal add that psychedelic edge. Lead singer Lynnette Shelley adds in her ominous vocals on the creepy "Carbon 14", another aggressive number with rumbling bass and crunchy guitars, with the tricky stick work of drummer Vonorn providing plenty of jazzy underpinnings to this otherwise heavy and foreboding track. After the haunting & brief instrumental "Gliese", the band comes back with "Das Snail", a chaotic slice of avant-garde mayhem, dissonant guitars slashing across the mix above crashing drum work from Vonorn, Shelley painting the landscape with her intoxicating storytelling, much like a female Jim Morrison. On this one, the band is quite effective jumping from soft interludes to loud chaos. Another short instrumental, the spacey "The Worm", bridges the gap to "Carbon 13", a perfect soundtrack to your worst nightmare, complete with distorted bass lines, squawking guitars, noisy drums blasts, and Shelley's maniacal rantings. There's a certain King Crimson meets Jefferson Airplane meets Captain Beefheart feel to this one, making it quite an intriguing listening experience. After a couple of shorter, effects laden pieces, the band tears into "Polyphemus", a track littered with bulbuous bass, lots of wild effects created by keyboards, theremin, and guitars, and Lynnette's mysterious vocals. After the downright spooky "Metamorphosis", the epic finale "The Anti-Man (Not Afraid)" crashes out of the gate in almost doom metal fashion, Shelley's vocals almost defiant against heavy guitar & bass riffs and Vonorn's thunderous drum barrage. Lots of twisting and weaving instrumentation on this one, a heavy prog lovers dream, and easily one of the strongest songs to date from The Red Masque discography.

Lyrically, this is some pretty intense and dense stuff, and makes for interesting reading as you are listening to the demanding music that the band has created here (full lyrics are included). Nice job on the overall production by Vonorn, making Fossil Eyes a very bombastic sounding CD at times, yet dark and ominous when needed during the quieter moments. Due to the heavier nature of some of these songs, I can see Fossil Eyes appealing to the non-prog crowd as well, which should be a good thing as this band has been paying their dues for a few years now and seem like they are ready to be accepted by a larger audience willing to give their unique style a listen.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

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For info on purchasing Fossil Eyes, or to listen to some samples, please visit http://theredmasque.com/fossil-eyes.html.

 

 

Good to hear that they have a new one out. Being from the Philly area I know this band personally although I haven't seen them live in a few years. Aside from the core of Von orn, Lynette and Brandon they seem to go through keyboardists and guitarists every so often. Still they are very good and have improved tremendously over the years. Feathers for Flesh was pretty top notch and easily their best(that I have heard so far). I meant to review it on here but unfortunately never got around to it(at least not yet).

Edited by Prog_Traveller - October 21 2008 at 13:52