If A Fall To Break’s last CD, “September Falls” was any indication of where this band was heading, “Man in the Mask” has announced it. The title song showcases Nathan Shoemaker’s vocal strength and the first two tracks have a driving power provided by Matt Bejar on the drums. The whole album is driven by the crescendos of Craig Artz’s guitars and the rapid fire dribbling repeats of Matt Bejar, with the piece de resistance being Cody G’s guitar solos. There is a melancholy warble to Nathan’s voice as he belts out lyrics like “it holds like it understands my needs/it keeps me from moving forward/it’s times like these that I feel so weak/and time to try and start this over/ leave it be in the past where it all still belongs/ see the man in the mask grows tired of all these questions/there’s no threat/ the less that you know/the less you must forget, except you don’t” from the third track “Man in the Mask”. This gravity was first heard on “September Falls” title track, a song based on the September 11th attacks and the anniversary of them. The band has seemed to temper “Man in the Mask” with that same melancholia. They bring it home with a surprise slow ballad, a piano-driven highlight number titled “I’ve Died”. Not to discount the utter extreme rock that is blaring from my stereo. It is loud in all the right places, with chord progressions running up and down each track and some seriously hard-hitting drums. Oh, there will be moshpits. I found myself singing along after the second listen through, realizing that this is a band that needs some serious radio airplay. Though there’s not quite a band that sounds like them, or they sound similar to, they’d fit nicely between the likes of Rise Against and Bullet for My Valentine on KFMA. In my opinion, they are better than most of what is played on the radio currently. Released by XENOCIDE STUDIOS, they recorded and mastered the album themselves. Proudly proclaiming they are 100% self-produced, they sound much more professional than most others out there. There is no over-production here, just good, natural, talent. They are releasing their CD at The Rock on Saturday, September 24th with CCS Crew (who are also releasing a CD). You can pick up the CD for $10. Having had a chance to see them live, I can say that theirs is a live show not to be missed.