Vangelis - Mask

This highly theatrical album sees Vangelis return to some of the symphonic-choral savagery he had employed to such good effect on "Heaven and Hell" in the previous decade. With its operatic bombast it's a little less approachable, but just as grand in its musical architecture.

A no-nonsense gong clash announces the beginning of part 1, and a rapid sequencer whirl propels the piece forward at a breathless pace. It's hugely effective how he bases big chunks of this movement on only one chord, using subtle changes in the combination of instruments to give a sense of drama. The syllabic chanting choir is familiar to those who know the "1492" soundtrack, but "Mask" is a far less easy listen. It's sometimes distinctively Chinese in its sudden stops and starts, as in a theatrical flash of dragons. An ethereal solo female voice emerges briefly from the darkness, but this mood is soon dispersed by a return of the opening sequencer theme.

After a respite with a slow movement based on a patiently pulsing keyboard, Part 3 increases the volume again (but not the pace) with a two-note theme like a thundering giant's steps. I've never heard bass drums sound more huge as they do here. Its quiet contrasts, as throughout the album, function merely to make the surrounding frenzies appear even more grandiose.

The second side shows there's much more to Mask than volume and bombast. On part 4 an exotic tuned-percussion line forms a hypnotic backing, in an ingeniously clashing rhythm and key, for the religious-sounding intonation of an anonymous male vocalist. The sequencers again return the album to gothic choral menace on Part 5. As the ethereal heights are scaled again in Part 6, we get a sense of the sheer geological scale this album was conceived on.

January 20, 2005

8 out of 10

see also...

• Vangelis - Heaven and Hell

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