Suspended Animation Dreams

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.