Band:	Poltergeist
Album:	Behind My Mask
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	January 1991
Guest review by:	omne metallum

01. We Are The People
02. Behind My Mask
03. Act Of Violence
04. Grey
05. Delusion
06. Drilled To Kill
07. Make Your Choice
08. Chato's Land
09. Still Alive
10. Driftin' Away

Poltergeist's third effort Behind The Mask is probably the band's best effort in a career that sadly never reached the heights it deserved. Whether damned by geography or luck, Behind The Mask is evidence this band could have jumped into the second or third tier of thrash rather than languishing as also-rans. Do yourself a favour and add thrash to list of things that Switzerland does well, next to cuckoo clocks and Celtic Frost.

Behind The Mask is a solid run through of 7 thrash tracks and 3 well done slower tracks; mixing variety with intensity, the band can cover a lot of bases well. The strong audio assaults of "Delusion" and "Act of Violence" show the band can do straight-up thrash well and will go someway in showing the uninitiated that there is more to thrash than the big 4. The 3 slower tracks are far more than throwaway attempts at something else; "Grey" is a rueful acoustic track with a haunting (pun intended) choir that will run a chill down your spine. "Driftin' Away" is a semi ballad that ends the album well, allowing your ears to readjust to the world outside.

The guitar work is solid; Pulver is a good player, and equally competent as a rhythm and lead guitarist. While he is unable to produce a standout riff (which may have been what the band was missing) he is not a bad player at all. If you are a fan of the bass being upfront and prominent then this album has got you covered, Felis' bass is treated as another guitar, being given its own space and adding an extra dimension to the songs. Grieder's vocals are powerful and versatile, equally adept at the thrash and slower sides of the album with what seems like no effort.

Where does Behind The Mask fall short? As mentioned prior, along with not producing a standout riff, the band isn't able to produce a true standout track. That is not to say the songs are bad, far from it, it's just none of them really pull the album up beyond the 7.5/10 range. It's not a fatal flaw at all; the album is well worth regular repeats,; it just misses that big moment that would help the band stand out in the genre.

Overall, Behind The Mask is well worth a listen if you want to delve deeper into the genre and move beyond the big 4 and Teutonic 4 (fun note, Grieder would briefly replace Schmier in Destruction and appears on the Cracked Brain album). Poltergeist hide in the shadows of the genre, there in spirit but never in body.