Suspended Animation Dreams

I had been hearing some great things about this album for a long while before I got around to listening to Subterranean Masquerade's 'Suspended Animation Dreams', and once again, my my musical network has not let me down. Although often called a progressive metal, or avant-garde metal band, there is alot about them that does not fit any of those labels. Suffice to say, 'Suspended Animation Dreams' is an eclectic effort, but it ultimately gives off a lasting impression that keeps me coming back. Although aspects of the band's sound feel somewhat half-baked in comparison to the sheer perfection they reach with others, Subterranean Masquerade's first- and to date, only- album deserves an invested experience from any adventurous listener.

You may have heard of the death metal elements that Subterranean bring to their music, but a listener who may be turned off by death growls should not be thwarted. Of the hour or so length, only a fraction is lent to metal, or heavy things in general. As a whole, Subterranean go for a prog rock sound that's hard to pinpoint in any prog trend. Their music can be acoustic and folky, or jazzy. As one may guess from a track title lie 'Rock n' Roll Preacher', there are also straight up 'rock' moments, where there's nothing particularly weird going on, and the music has an upbeat feel to it. Often, the mellower side of the band could draw comparisons from Pink Floyd. No mistakes made, however; 'Suspended Animation Dreams' is a challenging album, and there is not much out there that sounds like it. Although a listener will likely not confront something they perceive as being totally 'abstract', the fact that the wide range of sounds are all within the course of one album makes the album quite a handful to digest all at once.

The musicianship here is strong, though lopsided. Taking a look at the 'cast' for this album can go to indicate how many instruments are actually at work here. There are horns, saxophones, and harmonicas. Considering that this is a metal album, it takes some memorable songwriting to have it all fit together well, and Subterranean Masquerade do not disappoint on that front. Some of these instruments make a cameo for a moment only, and then leave, and it would have been nice to hear some of the most promising elements, such as the harmonica, a little further developed. There are Paul Kehr's vocals are arguably the most distinctive aspect of this band, a lower-register voice that carries alot of emotion and warmth to it. Where Subterranean Masquerade ironically loses some of their intensity is actually the metal portion of their sound. The metal guitar tone sounds a little weak, and it generally feels less well-executed and powerful than its mellow counterpart. Although they are labelled a 'prog metal' group, 'Suspended Animation Dream's greatest feature are the warm, often acoustically driven prog rock they make. Thankfully, that's where the band devotes most of their time, making Subterranean Masquerade's debut a winner.

When discussing Subterranean Masquerade, one has to understand that this isn't your generic run of the mill, guitar oriented Progressive Metal band. Their full length album features eight tracks of beautiful music that really encompasses you and lets you just drift away, but even as it carries you away with its euphoric, melodic and jazzy waves it can crush you with an overwhelming sense of melancholic depression. The sound of Suspended Animation Dreams embodies hope.


The vocals are all well done, though at times they seem muted, and the death vocals could use some improvement. Another small problem I have is that, just as with the vocals, the guitars seem to often take a back seat to the more experimental instruments and the drums are also a little muted. I'm not necessarily counting this as detrimental to the music as a whole, as it doesn't actually take much away from the music, but it's prevalent enough to drop the score down a few points.


On the subject of production, there is also a very slight... blemish, I suppose. It's clear, but I think the guitar sound doesn't quite "cut" it, and the pun was intended. A more succinct and brash touch to the metallic parts would have really done wonders to some of the songs. On others, though, such as X, this touch gives it a distinct sound that is... Look, it's a fucking eargasm, okay? That's what X is.


At this point, it seems I'm rambling off problem after problem, but... to be honest, the music still works, and not only is it tolerable, but it's damn amazing. It's... beautiful. From the tidal wave that is Six Strings to Cover Fear to the soothing perfection that is the final track, X, Suspended Animation Dreams carries the listener to new heights.

This is definitely one of the most interesting, refreshing and diverse CD's I have bought in a while, but I have my grievances about it too. You'll hear everything from death metal, jazz, middle-eastern folk, and calm ambience. Instruments include pianos, harmonicas, trumpets, saxophone, clarinet, trombone, violins, and flute. Vocals include death growls, whispers, choirs, female vocals, and well, regular singing.

If I had to pick one band that Subterranean Masquerade reminds me of, it would probably be Maudlin of the Well. They just have that same extremely artistic, unique, creative, quirky personality, and their albums don't have too many death vocals on them and add a lot of other instruments like this, and the lyrics remind me of them. Fans of Porcupine Tree and maybe even Orphaned Land might be interested in this as well.

This band's lyrics are extremely wacky, in fact, a little too silly for me at times. But hey, they're having fun. Here's some excerpts:
"Face the sky, see the big cheese smile?"
"Talk about philosophy and what comes next; the man or the monkey in space"
"Will get a dark purple carpet so I'll never fall; never sink inside this hole..."
"Virtual ritual, desktop icon, link to your inside"

For some reason, for me, the death vocals on this album don't really seem to belong. It seems like the songs could almost be better without them most of the time. (which is also what I say about Maudlin of the Well and Orphaned Land) Don't get me wrong - I probably have about 150 CDs containing death or black metal style vocals, and I'm very used to them. But for this music, they just don't seem to fit. Like they're almost forcing them in so metalheads will be more inclined to buy it. In "Awake" there are death growls and the music behind it is this cutesy little delicate piano melody and fairly slow percussion. In most cases, I love when two "opposites" in music are juxtaposed like that, but that particular part just sounds goofy.

Another thing that bothers me a little is sometimes the songs just change directions very randomly. There's no logical progression or crescendo leading up to a different idea; it's just kind of in your face all of a sudden. There are exceptions, like in "Six strings to cover fear" when the lyrics "Is the carnival on tonight?" are uttered, right after a heavy death-growl section immediately there's a spooky-carnival/playhouse-like violin melody, and that's very wild and cool. But most of the time, I think the song structure could be a lot better. In "Awake," the calmer section in the middle is decent, but they just stretch it out so long without really going anywhere with it. And even after all that, it just basically stops and starts a completely different melody with heavy guitars and death growls. Some bands can pull this off with somehow making the song still seem coherent *cough*Opeth*, but Sub. Masq. seems to have a hard time making it work.

Sometimes as well, the guitar riffs are kind of bland it's like they're relying too much on the other instruments to spice it up. Not to mention, you can barely even hear the guitars compared to everything else.

I might as well say the parts that I really do enjoy though. I'd say my favorite song is probably "No place like Home" which throws the unexpected harmonica at you after 20 seconds or so, while you desperately try to figure out the extremely eccentric lyrics. The middle of the song goes though all kinds of shifts until the last few minutes which are this really nice up-tempo middle eastern folk kinda thing with what seems like some parodic chanting in the background.

The second half of "Rock and Roll Preacher" is really cool; there is actually some good progression building up and the clarinets and everything actually all come together really nicely in a full-band ensemble, but the first half of the song isn't anything spectacular. "Kind of a Blur" is a charming little instrumental with pianos and violins, and a choir at the end. "Six strings to cover fear" is a pretty good song for the most part, the guitar riffs mixed with the violins at the beginning are very nice, and the carnival-violin part I mentioned before is also a nice twist. The first half of "X" is nice and calm with acoustic strumming, laid-back Caribbean-style percussion and female vocals.

Who knows, maybe this album will grow on me. And whoever's reading this, might like it more than me. But personally, I think this band has a lot of room to improve. However, this was still a worthwhile purchase. I think I've been a little too lenient on my ratings.

I will warn you all right from scratch: Subterranean Masquerade is different. You need an open mind to listen to this and fully appreciate every song on the album. I've been listening to the album for a few months and only now do I appreciate everything on it fully.

SubMasq have managed to blend jazz, progressive rock, psychedelic rock and elements of metal together to a diverse mixture that both soothes the mind but puts it to work as well. It has a certain amount of weirdness to it, though don't expect it to be as whack as Mr. Bungle. SubMasq have their own road to wander. The odd feeling mainly comes from the text, rather than the music. Take the opening from No Place Like Home for example: "I'm digging myself, a small hole, will call it home
We'll get a dark purple carpet so I will never fall, will never sink inside this hole
and make it be a part of me, a part of you, a part of us...
So join me in my home..." It sets your mind rolling but the music keeps a rather soothing pace, even when Paul Kuhr thunders over it with a deep, hollow growl. These contradictions is what sets SubMasq apart from other bands.

The standout tracks are No Place Like Home, Six Strings to Cover Fear, and Awake. Six Strings is the most harsh track on the album, whereas Awake is the most soothing, as well as the longest track. Warning: Awake manages to let you drift away, only to have robbed 13 minutes of your life every time it's put on. Another track worth mentioning is Kind of a Blur. This instrumental piece is full of joy, and nothing works better against a bad mood.

So why not a 100? It's unique, soothing, philosophical, everything fits. Well, there's really only a few minutes that take down the score. That's really The Rock 'N Roll Preacher's mid section. The song starts out great, but the mid-section just drags on and on and is hardly any fun to listen to. It's a shame, especially since it's followed by such a great part, where Kuhr puts out his best death vocals over happy, cheerful, jazzy trumpets and saxophones. 3 minute sout of this song's center part and the album would have been given a 100.

However, this is still a most excellent album. The composition, the vocals, the way every instrument is used, it all fits. Let their sweet sound shake your body, and wonder what's next: the man or the monkey in space?

Does it feel different inside?

Once again, following the amazing "Temporary Psychotic State" EP, Subterranean Masquerade does not fail to impress with their refreshing and incredibly varied "Suspended Animation Dreams". I was completely blown away by the EP and waited anxiously for months for the full LP. However, I was a bit disappointed by the internet preview of "No Place Like Home" and mistakenly tuned down my enthusiasm for the LP. This has been one of the worst musical mistakes I have made, depriving myself of weeks of pure musical bliss. Needless to say, this is a must buy, not only for fans of metal, but for fans of music as an art.

I won’t go into a song-by-song analysis of this album. However, it should be mentioned that each song is unique and incredibly varied in its own way. The songs could easily be placed in five different albums because of their varied styles. At the same time, while listening to the album as a whole, all of the songs manage to come together in a smooth and moving piece of work. If you are familiar with the EP, you know quite well that the feeling and atmosphere of it was one of a dark, psychotic world. You could feel the levels of dementia rise throughout the two songs. "Suspended Animations Dreams" appears to be the antithesis of the EP. The dementia remains, but with a layer of hope and light.

While there appears to be a running theme of psychosis that the band utilizes, "Suspended Animations Dreams" manages to invoke feelings of euphoric and tranquil states, of the lighter side of insanity if you will. Indeed, at times it feels as though you are in a floating dream, a realm in which the shapes, colors and feelings float by, and suspend for a minute, before new ones sweep in to take their long forgotten place. While the euphoria paralyses you, the harsh and brutal vocals by Paul Kuhr never fail to deliver their devastating blows. These harsh vocals also manage to sound incredible whether they be behind a crushing riff, or a softly played piano. These vocals, along with their clean male and female counterparts, serve as a great vehicle in which sadness, loneliness and eventually hope travel along. A great example of this takes place during "The Rock and Roll Preacher" 4:55, in which the beautiful and melancholic phrase of "...and dream walking to the other room, just to see her cry..." occurs. Seconds later, the choir asks us whether or not it "feels different inside?" behind a moving and graceful piece of music.

It's amazing to listen to a metal album can possess such crushing beauty coupled alongside such crushing sadness.