Hymnosis – Unmasking Faces
The middle of the work week is here and the weekend just cannot come fast enough. I’m lucky to have a three day weekend coming up so I’m very much looking forward to getting some things done. Plus I also just got Rocksmith for the PS3 and I’ll finally be able to put one of my many guitars to use again. This will of course likely negate the “getting some things done” that I just mentioned, but either way it will be cool. My iTunes spending spree continued last night with the acquisition of the first King Giant album, “Southern Darkness” and the latest Iron Mask album “Black as Death” which features the vocal talent of Mark Boals (listening to this I totally had to throw Yngie’s “Trilogy” on the iPhone today too).
On the schedule for today we’ve got Hymnosis, an unsigned band from Montreal. “Unmasking Faces” is their five-song EP of thrashy hardcore groove metal. As is always the case with EPs, when I like the band I feel a little let down that there isn’t more meat on the bones. But hey, as EPs go five songs is at least a fairly healthy portion.
The music on “Unmasking Faces” skillfully fulfills the thrashy groove portion of their bio’s promise while the vocals easily handle the hardcore part. The music is quick and chunky and likely great for generating some spirited pit action. The vocals have a harsh hardcore edge most of the time (though there are some clean vocals in there which add some melody too) and are, in my opinion, placed perfectly in the mix.
The production is pretty good. I like how clear everything sounds and rather than crowding all the different parts into a wall of sound the mix sounds very open and roomy. Like most of the great thrash albums from back in the day it is a little light on low end. I’d like to hear a little more punch in the low end but whatever; the songs are fine as they are.
“Unmasking Faces” is a solid effort and I like what I hear. You should head over to their Facebook page where you can stream all five songs from the EP and see what you think.