Unreal City “Masks” CS

"Masks" is a limited edition cassette (you read that right) containing six new tracks from Pittsburgh, PA's Unreal City in a little under 20 minutes. The overall approach is very similar to that of their "Ephemeral Subsistence" full-length, which is to say that the songwriting is heavily influenced by Integrity and Cleveland hardcore in general, with lots of chugging midpaced power chords and quick little explosive solos. However, the recording is much rawer and more stripped down here, with a distant feeling to the vocal placement and a little bit of a muffled thump to the percussion, etc. But that's not a bad thing—it actually really works to lend a "classic" aesthetic to the material, and doesn't detract from the force of the songs or the listening experience at all. They do suddenly change things up at the end, however, with "The Mortal Sermon": An eight-and-a-half-minute experimental noise piece that layers ambient hums and whirs with assorted samples—predominantly some sort of reading of T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" (which, I'm now assuming, is where the band got their name). A nice touch that certainly lends something of a "Humanity is the Devil" vibe to the EP as a whole... and, as usual, you just can't complain about that! Here's a taste of what to expect:

Unreal City "Changeling" (excerpt)

From what I understand this tape is limited to a mere 50 copies and will only be available at the band's upcoming shows. So, if you're a fan and you want to get your hands on one of these, I'd highly recommend attending one of the first few shows, 'cause, ummm... 50 copies ain't gonna last long!