The Mask Of Sanity - Sickness, Thy Name Is Human

A 2009 demo entitled {demo}nstration act sadly wasn't enough to really catapult Sweden's "Mask of Sanity" to any level of success - the five tracks on offer ranged from inspired and evil to inspired and cunning - I won't say it's the best demo in existence, but it's one that I remembered for the right reasons.

After a long, long gestation period, "Id" (sole studio member of the act) returned to launch his psychological assault on the mass-produced neon armies with a track entitled "Living Black Hole" on a compilation last year.
That track went down like free Bacon, and re-appears here on an album deliciously titled. Who's ready for an uneasy listen?

"The Monsters Inside Me" starts the album off with an abrasive wail of power electronics building into a crunchy riff, seriously powerful bass, (these Sennheisers are shaking), and Id's vocals lay down a banshee-like, demented grimace over the top of some atmospheric, colossal synth work. Holy Shit. A third of the way into the song, it goes sombre a bit, and the distorted voice makes a strained, tortured plea. Over the top of the music it's like listening to someones soul imploding, and this is very passionate, seriously uneasy music; done with the utmost brilliance.

"Dark Horizon" is more orthodox, featuring easier synth work. It retains the ambient terror that the former track gave us, and this track is much more melodic. It's Id's hideous, agonized vocals that make this far more recognisable than anything around today, and although the vocals on this track are more traditional and comphrensible, i'm damned if I can listen to this and feel happy. The interludes between each song so far are masterful, and this looks like (at least on paper), a damned fine release.

There's elements of a true Dark Electro release here - it fluctuates from heavy to mellow, slow to fast, demented to calm, and just like Id's psychological imagery, walking away unphased is a challenge for the most hardened of minds. On listening to "The Burden", and hearing this:
"Lowered down into the dark cold deep, You tried for so long but could not sleep. In this watery grave of self-disgust , The burden is who you can trust." It became immediately apparent just how far we have come to merely fail as a race.

"No Stars Shine" truly sums up the bleakness on offer here, and for those who have come into this music from a Black Metal background, here's your starting point. Well produced, cleverly themed and insanely well written, there's a big future here. The question is, can everyone handle the dark nature of The Mask of Sanity? I'm going to take it off my face now. It's hurting my brain. Jul 17 2012