{"id":47018,"date":"2014-11-22T09:15:24","date_gmt":"2014-11-22T14:15:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=47018"},"modified":"2014-11-22T09:15:24","modified_gmt":"2014-11-22T14:15:24","slug":"kirk-masquerade-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/kirk-masquerade-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Kirk | Masquerade<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"kirkIt took more than a decade, but Swiss melodic progressive\/power metal band Kirk is finally back with a follow-up to their 2003 debut The Final Dance<\/em>. Their new album is titled Masquerade<\/em>, and in addition to featuring a new drummer \u2013 Philipp Eichenberger \u2013 the album sees the return of producer Dennis Ward (Pink Cream 69, Unisonic). Kirk is signed to the Mausoleum label this time around, which seems like an odd home for this kind of polished progressive\/power metal.<\/p>\n

Kirk isn’t reinventing the wheel here. There are a lot of bands that play this kind of highly melodic, highly accessible mix of progressive and power metal \u2013 think Circus Maximus, Pagan’s Mind, Vanden Plas and Mind Key \u2013 and Kirk fits nicely alongside them. Actually, given vocalist Thomas Rauch’s uncanny similarity to Geoff Tate \u2013 at least in the midrange \u2013 Kirk sounds a lot like Promised Land-era Queensryche here, which is not a bad thing at all. While Rauch’s vocals are an obvious highlight of this album, it helps that he’s been given some very impressive songs to sing. The musicianship is high caliber, and Kirk hits that sweet spot between technicality and melodic accessibility. There’s a good deal of heaviness too, which may bring to mind Brainstorm and At Vance.<\/p>\n

This is just a rock-solid album from start to finish, and one without any obvious filler tracks. Still, Masquerade<\/em> does have some songs that stand out. On the front end, the back-to-back-to-back series of \u201cSupersonic Speed,\u201d \u201cMasquerade\u201d and \u201cEternity\u201d do an amazing job of gaining \u2013 and keeping \u2013 listeners’ attention. And later on, \u201cTragedy\u201d and \u201cThe End of the Universe\u201d show some real power while \u201cFallen Angel\u201d ends things on almost an AOR note. <\/p>\n

Between Masquerade<\/em>, the self-titled Queensryche album and recent albums by Mindcage and Malison Rogue, fans of the classic Queensryche sound have a lot to celebrate lately. Kirk delivered a very solid, very easy to get into, progressive\/power metal album here, and one that should satisfy anyone who enjoys melodic metal in general. Here’s hoping it doesn’t take another decade for album number three!<\/p>\n

Genre: Progressive Metal, Power Metal, Melodic Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nDaniel Pfister (b)
\nPhilipp Eichenberger (d)
\nSammy Lasagni (g)
\nBruno Berger (k)
\nThomas Rauch (v)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tDevil’s Claw
\n2.\tSupersonic Speed
\n3.\tMasquerade
\n4.\tEternity
\n5.\tFight or Die
\n6.\tNothing Else But Lies
\n7.\tTime
\n8.\tTragedy
\n9.\tFace in the Crowd
\n10.\tThe End of the Universe
\n11.\tFallen Angel<\/p>\n

Label: Mausoleum<\/p>\n

Website: www.kirk.ch<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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