Entry 523 - Diabolical Masquerade - Nightwork

 

Diabolical Masquerade is one of those projects that is entirely unpredictable. In most albums there is no indication of what the next song will sound like, and in most songs there is no indication of what the next riff will sound like either. It's bonkers.

Nightwork is the third album from Blakkheim's project and it's largely a continuation of where The Phantom Lodge album left off. That being melodic black metal with a large dose of progressive tenancies and heavy metal riffing... and a taste for the unpredictable. Let me explain.

Rider on the Bonez opens the album in excellent fashion. Keyboards start out with a sparkling yet dark melody before the guitars and drums come in to compliment. The first few riffs transition effortlessly from one to another and stay within a mid paced melodic black metal framework. The song takes a sudden and drastic turn during the instrumental portion. It shifts gears from black metal to almost a prog rock/metal style of riff with odd time signatures and solos. It's a bit much to take in at first but after a bit of acclimation it works well.

Something similar happens on All Onboard the Perdition Hearze! The song largely remains in a melodic black metal style until a classical/dungeon synth breakdown at the end. It seemingly comes out of no where and has strong renaissance vibes. The metal comes back in the same tone as they keys and ends the song on a distinctly happier tone than any other point in the album.

The Eerie Obzidian Circuz continues the insanity, starting off like a death metal song before morphing into something that sounds like circus music mixed with something out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon. There is just no telling where these songs are going.

Nightwork takes a bit to get used to, but its a great ride regardless. Sometimes it seems as if a bunch of riffs were just thrown together to make a song. Other times it's so well constructed it makes me go "wow." The end result is somewhat of a head scratcher. If nothing else it is very unique, especially for he late 90's when it came out.