Thousand Foot Krutch

By Lou Carlozo, contributing writer, GospelMusicChannel.com

Though Thousand Foot Krutch may be a trio, on Welcome to the Masquerade, they deftly juggle a quartet of genres: metal, pop, rap and post-grunge. While that may conjure images of mixing peanut butter, hot peppers and mayo at your favorite hot dog joint, fear not. Masquerade mostly succeeds in making it all sound appealing, and ultimately more inventive and endearing than derivative.

The clean cohesion and pop sensibility on Masquerade owe much to producer Aaron Sprinkle (of Poor Old Lu fame), who deserves a nod for keeping all those sonic plates spinning in the air. "Fire It Up" fades in as if from a nimbus cloud, then grabs the listener with lightning-jagged guitar riffing and a half-spoken, half-shouted refrain. (Listen for the guitar solo by Pete Stewart of Grammatrain.)

Sometimes, Masquerade walks on the mild side and stumbles. "Watching Over Me" lurches dangerously close to the should-be-banned category of '80s Metal Power Ballad, with its treacle string section and Brylcreem-smooth invocations of angel imagery. Given how original much of Masquerade sounds, this song sticks out like a sore, Spandex-covered thumb. More appealing in the softer spectrum: The album closer "Already Home" plants a massive, anthem-like hook atop piano and acoustic guitar, though once again the strings sound candied and grandiose.    

In terms of its lyrics, Masquerade serves up easy-to-swallow declarations of faith, which could use more punch in terms of imagery and wordplay. Yet the ballad “Look Away” moves with its storyline – with apparent references to cutting, or attempted suicide – and a redemptive power that lies beyond the pain: Take all these cuts, and make them shine/Don’t want to be perfect, just alright. 

And when Masquerade rocks, as much of it does, it sounds like a rowdy house party thrown by tobyMac, P.O.D., old-schoolers such as Kings X and a small army of righteous harmony singers in full mosh-pit mode. Witness "Smackdown," with its beat breakdowns tipping the hat to either Billy Squier's "The Stroke" or Run-D.M.C.'s "King of Rock."

We've heard all the elements before – from fuzz-box vocals to serrated drums dying to leap through your earbuds and into your skull – but not quite in this combination. Masquerade arguably wins the listener over on four levels: You can stage dive to it, rap to it, hum it in the shower and most certainly feel uplifted by it.