For years, formerly Canadian-based rawk band Thousand Foot Krutch has been delivering their crunchy adrenaline-powered music to the Christian music scene. Their energy has earned their music spots in a ton of sports montages on ESPN, including various other televised sporting events, the 2009 summer movie trailer for GI Joe, and even made them champions in Taco Bell's "Feed the Beat" contest earlier this year. Their single, "Fire It Up," helped to increase the hype for fans, as well as land TFK in the track listing for EA's NHL '10. So if not for the earnest lyrics, driving music, and impressive trakc record, Welcome to the Masquerade is at least worth checking out because of the raving reviews that have been floating around this week... not to mention that it's quite possibly their best yet.
"The Invitation" opens the album with an instrumental track that slowly builds the hype even more for fans, leading up to the title track. Crunchy guitars fill the song while mixing more melodic components into the chorus. Trevor McNevan (a very common name in Christian music) sings about the masks we all hide behind the cover our insecurities at times in our lives. That theme vaguely carries on through the album (kind of like Emery's ...In Shallow Seas We Sail), giving it something of a concept. Songs like "Bring Me to Life," "Scream," and "Look Away" showcase the theme of having hearts and feelings that need God's fixing.
Continuing the album are the previously mentioned tracks, "Fire It Up" and "Bring Me to Life." The former is one of the most amped-up, energetic songs ever to come from TFK. Trevor yells the chorus: "I've got a bad case of turning it up, it's getting cold in here, so fire it up..." It's definitely one of those songs you'd want to be listening to before a game or something to get you pumped. The following song pales in comparison, but is overall not a bad song, besides a slightly weak piano piece that opens before jumping into the action. There is a small difference between the "Bring Me to Life" free single that was released when TFK won "Feed the Beat" this year, but only a scream at the end of the chorus that wasn't as deep as the original and seems to blend with the rest of the album a little better.
Thousand Foot Krutch reunited with producer Aaron Sprinkle for Welcome to the Masquerade, who also produced Phenomenon back in 2003, which is one of the reasons why everything might be so much bigger and better, considering that he's worked with bands such as Demon Hunter and Emery. Also, Project 86 guitarist Randy Torres made a few heavy contributions. So overall, the sound is solid and has a much bigger and more professional sound than any other TFK album to date.
The song "E for Extinction" is another powerful one, and although I wouldn't say it's fantastic, it has that "always stuck in your head" factor and is very likable. The song after, "Watching Over Me," allows the listener to take a short breather with a signature TFK ballad. It's a good song by all means, but suffers because of its mediocre and rather cliche chorus, which says, "I know You're out there, and I know You care, 'cause I feel You like an angel watching over me." It's honest and has a good message, but I feel that there are just too many others songs with similar meanings, which gives it a little bit less of the impact it would have initially had. The verses are much more original, and the orchestration sounds great with the guitars. Two other ballads make up the tracklist, both of which are very strong, lyrically and musically. They're very emotional songs, and are without a doubt two of the most heartfelt.
Things pick back up with one of TFK's best songs ever to be released, "The Part That Hurts the Most (Is Me)." The hard-rocking guitars and piercing vocals are accompanied by intense lyrics that sing, "The part that hurts the most (is me), the most (is you), it's everything I do without you." It's the most outstanding song on the record, and definitely a Thousand Foot Krutch favorite for me. The final rocker on the album is a song that is very similar to Queen's "We Will Rock You," and is very enjoyable.
To say that Thousand Foot Krutch improved this time around would be an understatement. To say that they've crafted the perfect record would be an overstatement. But overall, Welcome to the Masquerade is a very well done effort from the rawk trio. I'm sure we'll be seeing (and mostly hearing) a bit of them in the near future, especially with football season started. Just know that the adrenaline from this album won't be wearing off anytime soon.
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