''An exotic musical trip through the Middle East'': A review of Subterranean Masquerade's ''The Great Bazaar''

Dear readers of my blog,

a few months ago, the Israeli septet Subterranean Masquerade asked the writing stuff of Black Wind Metal to review their latest 2015 output ''The Great Bazaar''. Since another collaborator wrote a very interesting review and since our site is currently on hiatus, my review hasn't been published so far. I thought both this album and the effort behind my review were too interesting to simply be forgotten or deleted. It's with an enormous pleasure that I'm now publishing this review for the very first time on my personal blog. I hope you enjoy what you're reading and maybe I've just made you discover something interesting.

Subterranean Masquerade's The Great Bazaar is the first truly interesting record of the young year 2015 in my book. Most of the seven members hail from Israel which is clearly audible on the band's second full length release. This is only their fourth output in eighteen years which proves that quality is more important for them than quantity. Subterranean Masquerade delivers indeed an excellent progressive metal record that mixes jazz, classical music and even big band inspired sounds with classic progressive rock of the seventies and a solid dose of doom and especially gothic metal. The decent doses of Middle Eastern folk elements in most tracks is the guiding line of this eclectic yet perfectly flowing release. Since the line-up now even includes drummer Matan Shmuely of Orphaned Land fame, the band sound recalls even more excellent Israeli progressive metal references such as Amaseffer and Melechesh. The project also features two international vocalists. Paul Kuhr is known as singer of the experimental Chicago-based death, doom and gothic metal band Novembers Doom and his performance definitely adds to the darker atmosphere and intellectual depth of this record. Norwegian singer Kjetil Nordhus from female-fronted symphonic gothic metal band Tristania completes the line-up and his influences seem to add both a catchier note as well as a sophisticated symphonic sound to the band.

This is really what makes the band stand out since their sound always remains accessible, focused and structured and never sounds too ambitious, confusing and sophisticated. Subterranean Masquerade is an open-minded project that makes them one of the most interesting contemporary progressive metal bands but in comparison to many of their colleagues, they don't sound complex and conceptual. Instead of writing ten-minute long songs where every musician shows off its instrumental skills, this band manages to write coherent, fluid and harmonious songs that are half as long but twice as good because nobody feels the need to pull off any stunts. From this point of view, this project sounds much more like a real band than many other groups. If I had to describe the band in one sentence I would call them an accessible yet eclectic supergroup somewhere between the sounds of Orphaned Land, Novembers Doom and Spock's Beard.

The Great Bazaar features seven progressive metal pearls over a length of thirty-nine minutes. The limited digipack edition even features two additional tracks for a total running time of above fifty minutes. These two bonus songs are taken from the great "Home" EP which was released about two years prior to this album. If you can get your hands on this extended version, be assured that it's worth the extra money.

The opening track "Early Morning Mantra" is my favourite on the record and already resumes all the band's strengths. Mystic Middle Eastern folk melodies in form of string passages and percussion immediately introduce you to a magic world of One Thousand and One Nights. This is where the album title really comes to life. This part also recalls another excellent progressive metal band with Middle Eastern folk elements which are their highly recommendable Tunisian colleagues from Myrath. As a next step, the band slows down the joyous folk instruments and shifts towards stripped-down keyboard sounds and clean vocals which make me think of the excellent progressive rock band Pendragon. The band slowly builds up the influences and intensity of the tune by adding mid-tempo guitar riffs, occasional smooth growls and a mixture of big band, folk and symphonic sounds. The instrumental passages in the second part of the tune with flute and keyboard sounds recall classic progressive rock bands such as Deep Purple and Jethro Tull. The song climaxes with joyous yet triumphant melodies that nearly recall the symphonic metal majesty of Therion in a slightly smoother way. The last few seconds slow the tempo down and the track fades out with appeasing sounds of nature in a musique concrete style. It's incredible how many diversified elements the band includes in one single song of six and a half minutes. Still, the final result never sounds overwhelming and offers a magical musical journey of the grandest kind. This song is already a serious candidate for the best track of the year for me.

Even though the opener remains the best track on the album, it would be harsh to say that the rest falls off. The band remains true to itself and delivers six more diversified, magical and smooth progressive metal pearls. The harmonious chorus of "Reliving The Feeling" as well as the atmospheric keyboard sounds in the bridge recall King Crimson, Pendragon and Spock's Beard. The string sections and the darker atmosphere in the melancholic "Tour Diary" make me think of German medieval rock band Subway to Sally with a more versatile vocal performance. "Nigen" is a more laid back instrumental interlude with acoustic guitars, string passages and a few flute sounds. The track almost has a lounge atmosphere and is one of the best instrumental songs I have ever heard. "Blanket Of Longing" has a indeed sad, numbing and epic atmosphere where the emotional vocals and string passages really shine. "Specter" is a true revelation for those who adore Middle Eastern folk music as this tune includes a massive amount of catchy melodies with dramatically expressive vocals blended in. Album closer "Father And Son" is the most epic song on the record as it clocks in at nine minutes and features guest vocals by Orphaned Land singer Kobi Farhi. It's an entertaining closure but this is the only track which is missing a clear guiding line on the album in form of a chorus, a reoccuring melody or a smoother transitions between the four or five different parts of the song. The almost weirdly abrupt ending and the fact that this song is maybe one or two minutes too long for its own good only add to that. Still, the melancholic guitar and keyboard melodies with fragile clean vocals reminding me of a The Old Dead Tree ballad are great. I also appreciate the more confident growls over dynamical piano melodies with a few rare up-tempo and extreme metal influenced riffs and drum patterns in the key of early Septicflesh. The different parts of the song are amazing but the transitions aren't. In the end, this is a very good song but not an excellent closure to an almost excellent record.

After all, this record is the best I have heard so far this year and five out of seven songs on the regular edition are nothing less than excellent. Only "Blanket Of Longing" as well as "Father And Son" are falling slightly off while the other songs are masterpieces. I like the band for its accessible, focused and structured song writing, this album's great flow that takes you on an impressive musical journey to the Middle East and the vivid mixture of different genres such as folk music, gothic doom metal, jazz and lounge collages, progressive rock and symphonic elements. In the end, I highly recommend the purchase of this progressive metal pearl. In addition to this, I might suggest you to check out the band's enjoyable previous two extended plays and one studio record as well.

Final verdict: 9.5 out of 10 

Support the band and visit the following sites:

Bandcamp: http://submasq.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-bazaar

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Submasq

Homepage: http://www.submasq.net/