Band : Mass
Album title : Sea Of Black
Label : Escape Music
Distributor : Connecting Music
Release Date : 23/04/2010
Release : CD

When I was given this CD to write a review, I started by doing some research into this band.  Mainly because in my almost thirty years of being a Hard Rock and Metal aficionado, I had never heard of them before.  Seems these guys have been around for almost as long  as I've been a rock fan.

They were formed in 1980 in Boston, have apparently sold over 100.000 albums worldwide, and have performed with many great acts. Their style can be described as Melodic Rock, being a mix between AOR and hard rock, with some hints of heavy metal coming through at times. The music is amazingly good, and they even threw in one or two ballads.  If their previous albums where as good as this one, it's a shame that I've never discovered them before. There's but one minor remark to be made, and that is that Louis D'Augusta's voice is rather nasal.  Not that he's a bad singer, not at all, but after a few songs it does get a bit boring. Best tracks on this album are : "Coming Home", which starts with an acoustic guitar sounding very country and western like, but which goes on to become a good rock song, "Falling From Grace", "All The Years Gone" (which also opens with a rather country sounding acoustic guitar), and the title song "Sea Of Black" - which reminds me a bit of vintage Black Sabbath.

85/100

Erik Morren.