The Million Masks of God is sort of like Manchester Orchestra's Science Fiction: it contains fractional glimpses of past albums, is rife with callbacks, and hones the band’s greatest strengths into what is easily their most purely listenable experience.
Masks feels like the band’s most emotionally loaded record to date, even by their standards. It’s also their most impressive. Huge in both scope and ambition it’s a testament to just how far the band have come since their debut.
There's a feeling on Million Masks that the band are pushing themselves to move beyond the more traditional aspects of their rock sound, stretching their melodic and lyrical ideas.
While The Million Masks Of God isn't a complete pivot, it's rotated enough that long after their departure, fans will always remember meeting an angel, and thinking that it sounded just like home.
This bombast largely works in Manchester Orchestra’s favor because it’s well-balanced with solid songwriting.They’ve maintained the style laid out on A Black Mile but imbued it with more splendor.
The Million Masks of God goes for an emotional gut-punch, but it's a bit light on impact. Much of the power of this music comes from the mind when it ought to come from the soul.
The Million Masks Of God is way less heavy going than a concept album centred on explorations of faith and existence inspired by the death of a parent has any right to be.
The band spends most of The Million Masks of God reprising the sweeping indie-rock sound of A Black Mile to the Surface. As a result, the new album feels like less of a natural evolution and more like a retread.
Having been a massive fan of Manchester Orchestra and everything Andy Hull touches, from his collaborative group with Kevin Devine in Bad Books to the soundtrack for oddball film Swiss Army Man, for over a decade now makes each new appearance from the group a special one for me. The group have progressed further into underappreciated indie rock titans over the years, expanding their sound into even larger and grandiose realms that include the symphonic arrangements on Simple Math and the ... read more
Pretty new to Manchester Orchestra, only last year I became aware of them from the #2020 Touché Amore album but I’m aware they are indie folk/rock.
I’m a little divided on this one, I’ve tried every EQ and every speaker in the house - the acoustic, the bass, the drums, the vocals and the mood are all here but where are the electric guitars? The songs are literally screaming for them!
So the bass and drums are super present which make the perfect foundation and there ... read more
Pleasantly surprised by this one. Been a fan of Manchester Orchestra for years now, but was a little worried because many of their contemporaries latest releases have been underwhelming and sometimes embarrassing.
The Million Masks of God really shows all their strenghts as well as coming across fresh and with a greater enthusiasm.
Andy's soft vocals and open lyricism really hit and the catchy melodies really make it an enjoyable experience. I feel like this album will get overlooked, but I ... read more
This record certainly has its moments. It can also be pretty bland at times, though. Even though there are highlights, I don't know if I would choose to the album as a whole again.
I'M ALIVE... BUT IT ISN'T THE SAME AS BEFORE-AAAAAH!
[This review again took me way longer than I thought, so thanks if you read through it all.]
Four years after the legendary "A Black Mile to the Surface" and Manchester Orchestra returns with yet another all-new original life-and-death-themed spectacle. Crossing over from Black Mile almost like a sequel with an even bigger cinematic sound and more family-related themes, "The Million Masks of God" focuses on themes ... read more
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