Meshiaak ‘Mask Of All Misery’
Album Review By Adam McCann
Mascot Label Group/Thrash Metal
There was quite a buzz surrounding Meshiaak in 2016 with the Australian thrash band promising so much. Unfortunately, this didn’t quite pan out as expected and the band’s debut album ‘Alliance of Thieves’ was distinctly little more than average, creating something of a false start for the band. However, this year see’s the band attempting to rectify this with their second album ‘Mask of All Misery’.
Prior to the release of ‘Mask…’, Meshiaak underwent an almost complete line-up change and this reshuffle seems to have done the band a world of good. ‘Mask…’ takes the band back to the drawing board with the album delivering thrashing riffs placed around groove-based rhythms with just a hint of progressive metal. This means that ‘Mask…’ has all the power of 4Arm, Annihilator and even Machine Head and Teramaze, with tracks like ‘Bury The Bodies’, ‘Adrena’ and ‘Godless’ pushing forward with all the aggression and brutality that has come to be expected from the genre. All this has been delivered through an impressive, sleek, modern production that actually makes this album quite accessible, giving it all the appeal of Slipknot, particularly through the barking vocal of Daniel Camilleri.
However, the same issues still plague ‘Mask…’ from the previous album; sure, these tracks are decent enough, but they are just not memorable and unfortunately, this means that once again, Meshiaak have presented something that promises so much, but just doesn’t deliver anything near the excitement.
Rating : 60/100
MHF Magazine/Adam McCann
