Death Mask - Exhumation, CD

Deep beneath the Maryland Doom Metal scene in the mid to late 80’s DEATH MASK emerged for a short time period. They hardly played that much and went unknown to virtually many Doom Metal collectors because were never able to get this because it was only available as a 6 track demo known as “The Beginning”, and it probably didn’t get too far outside the Maryland area (I assume). This is a unique band to say the least, but also a very magical sounding band where there are some moments in the music where your jaw will just drop to the sheer innovativeness of the way they put these riffs and songs together. Tom (the guitar player) plays some of the sickest riffs I’ve ever heard. Some of the stuff this guy comes up with is out of this world. Some of the songs they put together have like 5-7 amazing riffs in one song whereas a lot of bands rely on 1 or 2 good riffs to carry out a song (which isn’t a bad thing either). I hear a ton of ANGEL WITCH, CELTIC FROST, DREAM DEATH, TROUBLE in their darker / doom-y sounds and in their faster thrash-y parts, there’s a heavy VENOM, MOTORHEAD vibe. In short they’re best described as a ½ Doom Metal, ½ Thrash Metal band with amazing break downs. The vocals are an acquired taste like a wasted VENOM/MOTORHEAD-ish sound, but one thing’s for sure, this band is the definition of HEAVY! 1. Mercenary 2. The Insane 3. Sudden Death 4. Dead Planet 5. Instrumental 6. Bloodfeast 7. Acid Rain 8. Death Mask 9. Motorhole (Live) 10. Sudden Death (Live) 11. Acid Rain (Live) 12. Death Mask (Live) 13. Wicked World (Live) [Info from Shadow Kingdom Records catalogue]