LONDON, ENGLAND, The Pub --- January 5, 2300GMT
Mask: The NEW (Literal) Monsters Of Rock
by Darren Wallace
I'm still so blown away by what I've just seen it's hard putting pen to paper for this article so I'm just going to come out and say it clearly, there is a beast lurking out there in London somewhere and I'm just dumbfounded by it. A couple hours ago I was down at the local music joint, The Pub to partake in the weekly festivities of drinking, watching live musical performances, and some more drinking. Making sure that I wasn't enebriated enough to impair my writing, I decided to review some of the acts of the night. It was mostly alt-rock groups struggling to get their foot in the door in what we call 'the biz.' But the headlining group tonight (not that there was a specific bill with who was performing tonight) was a new heavy metal outfit that definitely made an impression on some folks tonight. Clad in all black with faces painted up like ghouls for halloween, Mask seemed as if they were in for a night of pure drunken heckling. However, as soon as the ringleader of this motley crew of rock 'n roll misfits took to the microphone for the opening song of the night, a cover of 'Running Free' by Iron Maiden, it was clear that the group would have no problems winning over the crowd. What ensued afterwards was a bombastic performance that I firmly believe the small stage couldn't contain, with their own light show the band seemed to own the stage that night, with the guitar player making menacing faces towards me, even growling at me, I literally felt as though I was going to s**t my pants. I later caught up with the band after the performance as they were loading up their van to leave the venue to learn some more about them. A gimmick of theirs seemed to have been to just give themselves names after their "characters" and not use their real names, here's what happened afterwards.
DW: Darren Wallace for London Times, I really don't know how to break the ice on this one, but...what are your names?
'Ghost' (Lead Vocalist): I'm a ghost, can't you tell by the whiteface?
DW: Really I think you can be anything with the whiteface.
'Monster' (Bass Guitarist): And what am I?
DW: Umm...that's a good question. (Monster chuckles.)
'Monster': You look like you're about to s**t your pants, calm down mate, we're only human...partially.
DW: I suppose you're thinking about eating me, eh?
'Monster': Nah, I need victims with meat on their bones.
DW: Anyways, on the serious side of this interview...
'Monster': Oh we weren't being serious?
DW: *chuckles* How long've you guys been around for?
'Ghost': Since we crawled out of the tomb that imprisoned us, we're at least a thousand years old...but no, we really have just started around getting gigs around town. We've all come from the London area from parts all over.
DW: Is it hard locking down gigs when promotors hear of your type of performance?
'Ghost': We don't let them know who we are at all, so they all just look dumbfounded when we show up, typically what we first hear is 'Who the bloody hell are you, where's Mask?' and it's just like, here we are! *laughs*
'Dog' (Guitarist): We like watching promotors sweat.
DW: Who doesn't?
'Dog': Exactly. (laughs)
DW: So is this a serious band or is it mostly for y'know s**ts and giggles?
'Monster': We're as serious as you want us to be, some people obviously can't look past this gunk we have on our faces and pass us off as a band with a cheap gimmick for success, truth is...you haven't seen a band like us before, and you will never see a band like us again.
'Ghost': We're a guiding light...
'Monster': Oh hell.
'Ghost': *laughs* We're a guiding light for all the ugly f**ks out there, need a band? Slap some makeup on your face and women will come flocking to you.
'Dog': In droves.
'Ghost': In droves!
DW: You're serious, women find you attractive with that on?
'Monster': *leans in towards me* Do we look serious?
DW: I don't know, you all have makeup on your face, I don't know if I should take you all seriously.
'Ghost': You look as if you've seen a ghost...you really should relax.
DW: So is there work on an EP or LP from you guys?
'Ghost': Absolutely, it's in the works at this point it looks as if we'll self-release it seeing as I don't think a label would approach us.
'Monster': With faces likes this we'll scare 'em off.
'Ghost': Damn skippy.
Mask currently has more dates planned through England for the spring of 2010, with plans for trips across the channel for Ireland coming soon, watch out for this group. They really are a live force to be reckoned with.
