Vikram – Behind the Mask I

 After the instrumental “Taar” opens up the album, the guitars and drums take over for “The mortal dance of Kali”, where the oriental (or hindu?) melodies contrast with the vocals but it all comes together in the chorus.  Vocalist Guilherme de Siervi attempts some Arabic melodies with his vocals to be in tune with the music (think of the stuff Zaher Zorgati does in Myrath) but he lacks Zaher’s innate ability to modulate his voice to the rhythm. “Requiem for Salem” comes with some chugging guitar riffs and pounding drums accompanied by some strings and choirs (deep) in the background that ad a haunting atmosphere to the track, while “Burn in Hell” is relentless and fierce, with double bass drumming, heavy guitar lines and powerful vocals, all caped of by a piano melody that bleeds into a guitar solo. The Spanish influences are heard on the (almost) acoustic number “Andaluzia”, which kind of acts as a sort of interlude between the first and second part of the album. Again Guilherme de Siervi’s voice doesn’t exactly blend well with the instrumental, some parts sounding a bit forced.

“Hassan Tower” brings back the oriental rhythms, which mix pretty well with the guitars and vocals, and make me think of Myrath’s 2011 “Tales of the Sands”, as all these different elements add both beauty and edge to the music. The thrashy riff that “Forsaken death” begins with is the backbone of the song, while the vocals are powerful, but not as melodic as I had hoped they would be (and this applies to the whole album, not just this particular song), but the guitar solo is pretty good. The same can be said about “Gypsy tragedy”.  The duet with Inês Vera Ortiz “Eyes of Ra”, complete with an over-the-top solo, ads some more spices to the mix, but overall it’s not that different from the rest of the songs. Honestly, for a concept album, this is pretty linear and a sense of déja-vu is almost unavoidable, especially considering it’s about 72 minutes long.

“The red masquerade” is more up-tempo and alert with chugging guitar lines and the same powerful, raspy, almost menacing vocal delivery, and considering the choirs at the end, it can be seen as being a highlight of the album. “The burden” again brings back the oriental charm with well-placed string sections, while the harsh vocals ad dramatism and edge to the song. “Shokran” is another hard hitter of a song, with an alert feel to it, and a dramatic vocal delivery, while “Prelude of the end” is probably the most theatrical piece on display here, from the vocals to the bass lines, to the backing piano melody, to the build-up and orchestration. “Behind the mask Iù” closes the album on a rather catchy note, making me wish I had heard much more of these hooky vocal melodies throughout.