Mason Hill - Against the Wall

 

As a reviewer before writing reviews and albums coming out, you listen to the singles in the run up and look into the band’s history to get an idea of what you are going to write.  This album was no different and up until two days ago I did have an idea of what I was going to say to start this review.  And that was basically to stop reading this review and go and back to the only EP they have released prior to this, their debut album, and go and listen to the song "Where I Belong".  That was two days ago prior to the album coming out.  Then to my surprise I looked at the track listing for the album only to find the 11th track on the album was none other than "Where I belong"!

But more on that song later. Firstly, let's look at this band Mason Hill and the release of this, their debut album "Against the Wall". The band formed in 2013 and from their website it implies that they formed when they were in school.  So even being together 8 years now, they are still in their 20s. In 2016 they released that debut EP I was talking about in the introduction and ever since have been touring up and down the UK building a following, playing many festivals and getting some nice support slots.  It’s clear the band have been through some challenges of getting to the point of releasing their debut album, Covid being just one of them. 5 years is a long time between an EP and an album.  If you watch or read interviews of them, you can find out more about these challenges.

They have been drip-feeding fans singles along the way though and in 2018 they released "Hold on".  But 2020 is where they really ramped it up, releasing the singles "Against the Wall", "DNA" and "Find my way".  Then just prior to the album coming out in 2021 they released "Broken son".  All these songs are all out rockers that really are anthems because they are so easy to sing along to. One thing for sure is that these songs belong in festivals and large arenas, not to the small stage.  The songs are just so catchy and infectious and sung with such passion.

Having listened to the album fully on repeat, continuously now for the past few days I have to say I am blown away by it.  The singles I mentioned before, some of which have been out a long time now and I have listened to a lot, I am still not fed up with them. In fact, I just want to hear them even more, especially in the context of the album.  The songs I haven't heard stand shoulder to shoulder with these singles.   ""No regret" is another stomper, while the likes of "Out of reach", "Who we are" and "We pray" show that they don't always do all out rock songs and almost like an artist’s palette they have a spectrum of colours showing the diversity in their song writing.  These songs are just as catchy and just as singable too.

One thing that really strikes me about this album is that I don't think there has been a band from Scotland that has come out with something like this for a long time.  Sure, you have great bands like Biffy Clyro and Twin Atlantic.  But they don't make the kind of rock Mason Hill are making. In the same breath I need to say I don’t think anyone on the planet makes the kind of rock Biffy make or at least not as good as them.  But look at Mason Hill's album.  It is littered with guitar solos and that really is quite rare it seems in mainstream rock in the UK.  And it’s clear when you hear their influences are the likes of Alter Bridge, Shinedown and I would guess the likes of Black Stone Cherry too.  I can see these influences in there, but they have definitely got their own thing going on here.

One thing I love about Alter Bridge albums is that they always start and end their albums in a great way. I love bands that focus on the first and last tracks of an album as I see albums like a story book and all good books have a beginning and an ending. "Against the Wall" is no different.  The album starts with "Reborn" which is a cool intro with cool effects then finishes with "Reborn (reprise)" to symbolise you have gone full circle with the album by finishing off the track at the end.

Now you may be wondering what about this "Where I belong" track I was banging on about in the introduction. Well, I thought I'd save the best for last.  This is really the bands epic track and if they are not known for this track already, I think it’s what they will be known for in years to come.  It's their "Stairway to Heaven"(Led Zeppelin) or "Blackbird"(Alter Bridge)" or “November Rain" (Guns n roses) or "Look on" (John Frusciante).  The difference between "Where I belong" and all those other tracks is that Mason Hill wrote this song so early on in their career and as I say appeared on their debut, and only EP prior to this album coming out. In my opinion despite the age of the song and the fact it was on their debut EP they were absolutely right to include it on this album. When you make a song this good the more people that get to hear it the better.

But why is it so good?  Well, it follows the same kind of pattern to "Stairway to Heaven" without being "Stairway" if you know what I mean.  It has some versus just with guitar to begin with before the winding solo comes in which builds and builds before Scott Taylor really pumps up the vocals and delivers a rousing ending to the track.  I did notice they have made tweaks to the track from the original.   For example, introducing harmonies on some of the parts of the versus, the guitar tone in the solo has a slightly different feel to it and the overall production feels better.

Overall, what more can I say about this album, I really do think this is right out of the top drawer. This album is a total triumph from front to back. It’s a very exciting time for UK rock music at the moment with other bands like Those Damn Crows and The Dust Coda making some great music. It’s just great to have a band like Mason Hill flying the flag for Scotland.