Having just released their debut EP some months ago, The Mascaron are a band which are spread across different continents, the UK as well as Latvia.
On this EP there are five songs of sprawling progressive beauty, whilst also experimenting with soundscapes as well delving into djent. The first song “Out of Time” clearly represents all of the well-known djent characteristics. I really love the vocals on on this song as they are clean and also shouted.
The second song, “Inside The Sun”, starts off with some cool keyboard effects before the song jumps into gear. Featuring more space in this song as it has breaks here and there, but this song is just awesome as the band thunders along as the growled and clean vocals intertwine. Also, the guitar work is of a high standard as well, as in this song at about 3/4 of the way there comes song cool guitar tones, as it helps piece sections together.
“Serpents”, the third song, mixes a little dance keys with djent guitar. It’s an interesting combination (you can clearly hear the keys/synths in the intro), before the song really kicks into high gear. Throughout the song there are musical gaps, allowing the clean vocals to enter, before the shouted vocals enter again. All the while, there is a lot going on in this song which goes to show at how–even on their debut–this band show a lot of promise.
Starting off with a nice rhythm with lots of double kick work, echo-y guitar chords and a terrific bass line, the fourth song“The Night Before”, is easily one of my favourite tracks off this EP. Again, there’s a lot of interplay between the clean and shouted vocals as they overlap and bounce off each other, at times seeming to battle with each other. Brilliant stuff.
The final song, “A Future Era”, starts off with some echo-y guitar chords during the introduction which is nice and soothing, before the music decides to pummel your brain from all directions. With a few slower sections during the song, I think during the chorus, it allows the guitar work to really shine through. Great stuff.
Overall, Beginnings is a brilliant EP from this young band. The music and the production (especially) show a lot of promise, considering that it absolutely sounds fantastic. From the first few notes I sat and listened to it with a smile on my face, and I really would recommended this to any fan of prog metal or djent, or both.
RATING: 4 / 5
