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The Mascaron is a Progressive Metal band with members from Latvia and the U.K. Right off the bat, I give them a lot of credit for not sounding like a "typical" Progressive Metal band. Rather, they have crafted a sound that pulls in a lot of different styles. There are, of course, keyboards and challenging time signatures, though The Mascaron is more restrained in that area than many others. The vocals are a combination of clean singing and Death growls. After this, though, things start to go south. The guitars are down-tuned so they sound like Fear Factory or, worse, Killswitch Engage. Combine that with the fact they aren't really playing riffs but are just strummed on one chord, or sometimes two, and you end up with a monotonous modern metal drone. The songs have little melody and the songwriting seems more concerned with being unconventional. I won't say the musicians are untalented because that would be untrue, but what they are choosing to play is dull or annoying and, in many cases, both.

Beginnings is often over the line that separates Heavy Metal from the heavy music most non-Metal listeners confuse with the real thing (the band openly embraces the "djent" sound on their website). I think even the most stalwart of Progressive Metal fans will find little worth their while.