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Evil Masquerade ~ Third Act~

RaY RaY Pine | Philly | 10/20/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Henrik Flyman, of Wuthering Heights fame, formed Evil Masquerade in the summer of 2003. The band had released two relatively well received albums prior to Third Act but, with the addition of vocalist Apollo Papathansio (Time Requiem, Majestic), they now have their sights set on world wide acclaim.



The first real track of the CD, "Third Act," is a fast paced power metal track that combines the Dio influence of Papathansio with the speed of contemporary metal acts such as Labyrinth, Rhapsody and even a bit of old school Kamelot. This track leads into the Merciful Fate inspired "Black Ravens Cry." If you can't hear "The Bell Witch" in this song, you're not a MF fan! Homage aside, this is a mid-tempo rocker with Papathansio doing his best mid range Dio meets upper register Warrel Dane. Flyman let's the chops go on this one and unleashes a solo that duels with a keyboard solo that sounds like it could belong to an uncredited Richard Andersson (Andersson is credited with being on the song "Third Act," not "Black Raven's Cry").



The album continues much in this way. The album has a solid European power metal sound that continues with "Descended from the Grave," which then gives way to the burning rocker "Far Away," that not only displays Papathansio at his best but, showcases the bands best song writing yet! The riff that holds the song together will have any metal fan throwing their hand to the sky.



There aren't many surprises on the album (if you ignore the slightly off and not very good "Under the Surface of Water"). The musicianship is as tight as you'd expect from any power metal band though Buhl does a few more interesting things on the disc that a lot of standard power metal drummers might not do. Andersson doesn't distract too much from the songs he contributes to and Flyman's licks are quite delicious for the genre. Evil Masquerade also manage to avoid falling into the galloping riff style of a lot of power metal bands which is a nice change of pace. In fact, they shine on the slower/mid tempo metal songs they do ("I'll Make you Burn").



While I wouldn't call the band progressive or incredibly original, I would say that they offer a refreshing breath of air in a genre that has grown stale over the years.



For Fans of: Labyrinth, Elegy, Mercyful Fate, Dio

"

New way of listening to metal

F. Pacheco | Venezuela | 10/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the kind of CD you need when the idea of "bored of music" is rounding your head, a few times in a life time you find this kind of gem, nice piece of music from begining to end, plus 2 previous tracks, I higly recommend all Evil Masquerade music, since the first time I heard them I rediscovered music once again :D take care"

Great Danish melodic metal!

Elisabeth Gatlin | Lincoln Park, NJ, USA | 11/28/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Evil Masquerade's third album features Apollo Papathanasio, current singer of Firewind, on vocals, and his contributions, along with Henrik Flyman's outstanding compositions and guitar work, make for a very fine melodic metal album. My favorite tracks are "Black Raven's Cry," "I'll Make You Burn," and "Bring on the World." Two bonus tracks from previous albums are also included. Recommended!"