Tales of Mike “Human Masquerade” for #METALMOMENTUM
Band: Tales of Mike
Title: Human Masquerade
Label: independent
Release date: October 4th, 2024
Country: Germany
Format reviewed: High-Quality Digital Recording
“Human Masquerade” is the first single from the upcoming album by Tales of Mike, which will be released in 2025. And only two weeks ago I had no idea about the existence of this band, or about the man behind this band, Mike Hess. It took me only a few minutes and a listen to this song, and I decided to write this review because: 1) it’s a very good track and it deserves some attention; 2) it’s my small contribution to support the artists behind it; 3) there’s more than the eye can see behind Tales of Mike…
But I’ll talk about it at the end of my article. Now, let me tell you a few words about this single. “Human Masquerade” is a song that can be framed in an Epic Heavy Metal style, as it contains a lot of emotion, it has some kind of “triumphant feeling” while you are listening to it, and lyrics can be resonating in your head like an hymn, due to their message: the hypocrisy of human behavior, and the victory of those who don’t let the others’ falsehood affect their lives.
Music is solid and powerful, the initial riff is repeated all along the song and it’s perfectly recognizable, and this is a thing I like a lot: when I can remember a song just by having the main riff stuck in my head. Or a melody, or whatever. Having a personal imprint that makes it different from other similar songs.
But not only a riff makes “Human Masquerade” a memorable track. All the guitar work is outstanding: melodies provide an epic mark to the music and the solo (by Henrik Schaller) stands out with crystal clear notes and a very talented shredding work, at the time that the main riff remains in the background and the bass resonates deeply.
Another standout aspect of this song is… oh yeah. The vocals. Gonzalo Civita (who is in the bands Heléh and Tribal) has a great vocal range and he can easily go from raspy and energetic singing to some high pitched screams, and then go to a darker style, all in a row. This makes me shiver… it’s very emotional and gives an extra punch to the song. If you don’t know about Gonzalo, I encourage you to check the namesake album by Heléh from 2022, it’s Doom Metal from Argentina, and you’ll appreciate the varied and awesome vocal range from this man.
And also to mention the drum work, of course. At the beginning it’s quite restrained, but strong, and it immediately starts being faster and stronger, and my main impression all through the song is that drums provide a solid and constant work, toms are smashed with no mercy with a regular pace and the presence of cymbals quite often (and the fact that they don’t sound really predominant) helps to the epicness in the sound. At least for me.
Let me add all the credits: lyrics were written by Shannon Hess, Mike’s daughter, and they really depict well what happens when life smiles at you and gives you good things, and your so-called “friends” start showing their false and hypocritical face but in the end they all are envious of you. The cover art was done by Joss Miranda. The song was mixed and Mastered at AV Studio by Matías Takaya (who’s also playing guitars and bass in Heléh), same as the previous EP by Tales of Mike.
When I mentioned before that “there’s more than the eye can see behind Tales of Mike”, I was referring to the reason why this band exists. Taken from their Bandcamp site: “In December 2022 Michael started recording demo-songs for the first time. He made it his mission to write a tribute song to his late brother Markus Hess”. Markus was Mike’s brother and he died in 2010 due to cancer. Mike wanted to write a song dedicated to Markus, and this song is RIP (Landscape of Sorrow). This led to the release of an EP in 2023, and now a full-length album is in the making. And this proves that love and grief are the most powerful and inspiring forces, together they can move anything.
Mike is currently in contact with Fetzner Death Records, probably this German label will be releasing his upcoming full-length album, so… let’s see what’s coming next. What is sure is, this song is a banger, and a very good advance for the album. I give it 9/10 Sílvia
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Tales of Mike on Fetzner Death Records Bandcamp site: Bandcamp
9/10 Epic Storm
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Image by vecstock on Freepik
