Band:	Lord Mantis
Album:	Death Mask
Style:	Blackened sludge metal
Release date:	April 29, 2014
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Body Choke
02. Death Mask
03. Possession Prayers
04. You Will Gag For The Fix
05. Negative Birth
06. Coil
07. My Three Crosses

How does a band top a masterpiece, exactly? Within metal, history has shown us with albums like Human and Hammerheart that it's typically done by changing their sound to something different, but still potent and effective. While this may sound like a bunch of theoretical bullshit, in the case of Lord Mantis, this rule is proving true yet again with Death Mask, an album that may not live up to its landmark predecessor, but perhaps doesn't have to.

Lord Mantis' third album can alternatively be seen as both a regression and an evolution, depending upon the expectations one goes into it with. In regards to Pervertor, Death Mask is a lot less filthy and relentless: the production comes across as a little less murky, and the bludgeoning speed of the previous album is present in a much smaller dosage. While this may come across as a disappointment, Lord Mantis have traded these techniques in for an all around "thicker," heavier sound, and a songwriting that seems to be more structured and compact. Opener "Body Choke," for example, retains nearly all of the band's trademark elements, yet takes a much more doom-like approach, with a more moderate tempo that makes the music come across as catchier, and in some ways easier to get hooked into. It's not a bad move by any means, and thankfully the band have also retained some of the chant-like repetition in their lyrics (a la "The Whip And The Body"), particularly the repeated "Blood rush is chilling!" (or something like that) line on "Possession Prayer."

In essence, where Pervertor finely balanced out the sludge and black metal elements of the band, Death Mask appears to be more focused on the sludge than the black, at least as far as musical delivery is concerned. Some exceptions and increases in tempo do appear, such as on the delightfully nasty "Negative Birth," and towards the end of the closing track, but the overall lack of such a type of delivery on the album in general makes it feel a bit underdeveloped when it actually does rear its ugly head. The saying typically goes that a band's third album is the "make it or break it point," and Death Mask puts Lord Mantis in a bit of an odd position going forward, because it honestly does a bit of both.

Regardless of all the love fans have over their previous album, however, it should be noted that Lord Mantis were coming off a landmark blackened sludge album with this release, so the fact that they had an almost impossibly high standard to duplicate should be taken into consideration when listening to it. Death Mask is one of those "follow ups to a masterpiece" sort of albums, that will be likely to only disappointment listeners who go into it with the expectations created from the band's preceding album. Is it Pervertor, Vol. 2? Not in the slightest. But, for the sake of maintaining artistic dignity and evolution of sound, does it really need to be? This reviewer thinks not.

Highlights: "Body Choke," "Possession Prayer," "Three Crosses"

Take your vitamins, children.