Album Notes

The Mass are profoundly loud, heavy, and unpredictable - yet the sound is so well controlled that the listener is mesmerized and excited, even if it seems unlistenable compared to his/her standard fare. But for fans of extreme music, the music of The Mass is unconditional bliss for the ears and eyes.

It is guitar rock that has come unhinged entirely and entered a hostile realm of urgently yelping saxophones, grindcore screams and guttural growls, dribblings of droning art-rock, jagged incomprehensible arrangements, hints of malevolent smooth-jazz, imprudent decibel ranges, and complete disregard for the corporate canon.

Good points of comparative reference might be the adventures of John Zorn's NY collective, the wicked punk/jazz fury of Nomeansno, the chaos and beauty of Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman, the patient brutality of the Melvins, and the saccharine, wet fantasies of John Tesh.