(written by Islander)
Masca is a new group that unites three long-time friends who have been involved in the Italian and international metal underground, with such names as Beheaded, Adversum, and Daemusinem on their resumes. They have recorded a debut album named Maskerie Filia Diaboli that will be co-released on May 22nd by Satanath Records (Georgia) and Underworld Echoes Records (Greece).
And beyond that we don’t have much other information to share about the band or the album, other than the labels’ recommendation of it for fans of Dark Funeral, Belphegor, Behemoth, and Immortal. That’s potentially useful in pointing the way to some kind of powerful amalgam of black and death metal, but we have a more immediate and tangible sign of what Masca have done through our premiere today of an album track called “The Perseverance of Sacrilege“.
The first word that comes to mind in listening to this song is “maniacal”. The blast-fueled drumming is furious. The bass tones rampantly thunder. The riffing generates a roiling boil of malice and madness. Even the vocalist’s abyssal growls bark like an enraged mastiff, and they elevate into tormented screams as well.
The execution is fast and ferocious, but razor-sharp. The drumming in particular is eye-popping, and the searing riffage soars in displays of terrible splendor. But as the fury subsides, the music becomes darker and even more daunting, creating a vast display of menace and cruelty above lurching beats.
A slithering lead-guitar adds an exotic accent, like the appearance of some shining reptilian vision that’s both frightening and seductive. Even when the music’s tempo and ferocity ramp up again, the guitars and bass remain charismatic presences, venomous but also glorious, and the growled and screamed vocals join together to propel the song to even greater heights of diabolical hostility and fiendish splendor.
So yes — the song is maniacal and barbaric, but it’s also intensely melodic, and the melodies create visions of hellish glory on the rise. A very impressive sign of what Masca’s debut album brings to ravenous fans of black metal terror and triumph.
MASCA is:
DOC – vocals
SÙRNAMTAR – guitars, bass, backing vocals
SUMMUM ALGOR – drums
Satanath and Underworld Echoes will release Maskerie Filia Diaboli in a jewelbox CD edition (500 copies) and digitally. Find pre-orders via the links below, and after the links we’ve also included a stream of the previously released album track “Blood of Sacrifice“.
PRE-ORDER:
https://satanath.bandcamp.com/album/sat415-masca-maskerie-filia-diaboli-2026
https://underworldechoesrecords.com/
MASCA:
http://www.facebook.com/mascablackmetal
https://www.instagram.com/masca_black_metal