Dendera's 'Mask of Lies' - Album Review

Despite a recurring theme this year seeming to be excellent releases by long-in-the-tooth veteran bands, and it is great to see the old masters still giving it their all, there has also been an undercurrent on this blog this year made up of young British talent. Collateral's second album Should've Known Better (which I reviewed here) is one of 2024's best feel-good melodic rock releases so far, whilst the Kris Barras Band continue to go from strength to strength on Halo Effect (which I also reviewed here). Following a similar path, then, today's review turns the spotlight onto Portsmouth's Dendera - a heavy metal five-piece who debuted back in 2011 with the EP We Must Fight. They may not be the newest of new bands, then, but they still feel like a band who are developing - and it seems that in recent years they have become somewhat more well known. I think I first came across the band opening for Eden's Curse in 2014. They did not make much of an impression at the time, though, and it was not until 2022 when I came across them again properly - this time opening for Freedom Call. I had somewhat followed frontman Ashley Edison's career by default, though, first as a member of the sadly-defunct power metal act Power Quest and then as the current frontman of Welsh glam metal legends Tigertailz, but I had not kept up with his musical day job. I was not expecting too much from the band in 2022, then, but I found myself enjoying their set. They were much hookier and tighter than I remembered - and it seemed that quite a lot of growth had taken place over those eight years. I ended up picking up the band's discography at the show, but to date I have only really digested their last couple of releases - a duo of EPs: Blood Red Sky from 2017 and Reborn into Darkness from 2020. Given they were labelled as parts one and two, it is clear that they were supposed to be seen as a cohesive piece of work. There were certainly similarities between the two releases and their set from 2022 was largely (perhaps, even, totally) made up of songs from them. I have not listened to the band's earlier work, then, but from my memory of the 2014 show the band's newer material is heavier - with some metalcore elements, including occasional harsh vocals. This heavier sound has been taken to the next level on Mask of Lies, the band's third studio album and their first release since Reborn into Darkness. It is their first proper album in nine years, too, as Mask of Lies follows on from Pillars of Creation from 2015. Dendera have not exactly been prolific, then, but Mask of Lies is a pretty strong next step for the band - which sees them treading the line between their older traditional heavy metal sound and something heavier. The band's founding guitarist and principal songwriter Steve Main adds harsh vocals to many of the songs here, something which had been toyed around previously via guest vocalists, but it does seem as if the band is not quite sure whether to go all-in on this sound or not. As such, the album feels like a bit of a meeting of minds - but it does generally hang together pretty well. Alongside Ashley and Main, the rest of the band is completed by its line-up since 2015 so includes guitarist David Stanton, bassist Bradley Edison, and drummer Andy Finch.

The album is relatively short, too, and at just under 45 minutes long it does not outstay its welcome. Generally the material here is up-tempo and pretty heavy, but there is some variety to be found - and the album kicks off with the short instrumental Face to Face. It is a slow burn, made up of clean guitar melodies with a synth backing which slowly grows in stature - before the drums kick in alongside some choral vocals. The piece is essentially an extended intro to the album's title track, which kicks off the album proper with some driving double bass drumming and a busy guitar pattern which mimics some of the synth melodies from Face to Face. A groovier riff soon kicks in and this rhythm sets the tone for the rest of the song - with the verse starting soon after. The first voice heard is Main's and his harsh vocals are heavily utilised throughout this song. Ashley still dominates overall, but the verses here feel like more of a duet than much of the rest of the album - with the harsh vocals seemingly punctuating every line. This vocal approach works quite well, even if I feel that Ashley does not really get to make the full use of his range as a result. The chorus sees him pushing himself a bit more, with some more melodies from Face to Face being reprised here, whilst the harsh vocals step back a little. This chorus feels more like the band's older traditional metal sound, with soaring hooks and a prominent guitar lead, whilst the verses are more modern sounding - with a strong metalcore vibe. With harsh vocals certainly more mainstream than they used to be, their inclusion does feel natural, though, and a shredded solo later keeps the pace up. Scream in Silence follows and the main riff immediately harks back to the mid-2000s metalcore scene. The groove and bounce it conjures up is certainly from that era, and there are even a few harmony guitar moments to hark back to that genre's roots in the Gothenburg sound. Generally, though, this song feels less heavy overall. The main riffing is certainly of a type, but vocally there is much more of an emphasis on Ashley's clean delivery this time - with only the occasional growl. The song is also much more mid-paced overall. The opening riff aside, much of the rest of the guitar playing is much crunchier and old-school sounding - particularly during the verses and the chorus. A later instrumental section, built around another shredded solo, ups the pace and returns to a more metalcore-influenced sound, but the song's core approach feels much weightier - with the chorus in particular feeling like a bit of a throwback to the classics of the metal genre. Fading opens without any real build up, with Ashley immediately singing the song's chorus against a backing of deliberate double bass drumming and a groovy riff. This is a song which really straddles the line between the band's two main sounds on this album - with another main riff that showcases some metalcore influences whilst other parts of the song have the majesty of traditional metal. Subtle synths help to make the song feel pretty big overall - with Ashley allowing his clean vocals to soar over the heavier riffing. Occasional harsh vocals toughen the song up when needed, and parts of the verses also see the guitars step back to allow the bass and drums to perform a knotty rhythm over which Ashley sings. The song is a bit of a strange mix of sounds, then, but the combination tends to work - even if sometimes the synths can feel a bit overpowering in the mix at times.

Guiding Light is much heavier and faster; with the band returning to the sound of the album's title track - pushing a strong metalcore feel. Main's harsh vocals take on a much more prominent role again here, with the verses also feeling like a duet - with Ashley responding to Main's opening growls. Despite a slightly more epic chorus, which is largely sung clean and sees the pace slowed down somewhat, this song is a really venomous effort. It is likely the heaviest song here overall and the band very rarely let up. Some of the riffing here makes up the knottiest and toughest of the album; and these moments are always backed by some fast footwork from Finch. There is a lot of energy throughout this song, then, with even the aforementioned somewhat slower chorus still having something of an urgency - alongside some higher-pitched vocals from Ashley. Mid-paced and groovy riffing does later characterise a short instrumental break, which includes another fast-paced solo, but on the whole there is no quarter spared during the song - and it is an overall highlight here for me. The Fall opens much more slowly, with a sparse percussion loop and some chiming clean guitar melodies, but this relatively peace is short-lived - with another chunky riff soon kicking in. Unlike the previous song, though, this track is much more mid-paced overall. As such, there is a much more traditional sound on display this time - with the riffing feeling much more rooted in traditional heavy metal overall, including the odd mournful lead. The song takes a little while to get going, building up around this riff, and once Ashley starts singing the heaviness is stripped away to leave some chiming guitar melodies and another off-kilter bass and drum pattern. As such, this is another song with lots of vibes, then. The chorus and the main riffing moments feel pretty old-school - but the alternative rock vibes of the verses and some much heavier sections later on with some prominent harsh vocals offer a different approach. The song does jump around quite a bit, then, and I do like a lot of the ideas here - but this is one piece that feels as if it is not sure what sort of song it wants to be. This album does feel like that somewhat overall - but this song exemplifies it. Drift Away features a guest guitar solo from Satchel (Fight; Steel Panther) and it is another pretty venomous piece - with a snappy opening riff which sticks nicely in the brain and some busy double bass drumming. It does not feel overly metalcore-inspired, though, despite some sparse harsh vocals - with the track just sounding like the heavier traditional metal sounds which dominated the last two EPs. There are some groovy moments throughout the song whilst the chorus is another which goes for quite an epic feel - with big, ringing chords and a melodic guitar lead backing. Satchel's solo is as impressive as is to be expected from him and he even throws in a few neo-classical licks which I did not expect.

Inside My Head continues on a heavier sound - but this is another faster piece akin to the title track. The opening riff could have come from an early Trivium album given its overall rhythm and pattern - and the song is another thrashy, metalcore-inspired piece with much more prominent harsh vocals and a furious pace. The chorus sees the pace slowed down, which tends to be typical of songs of this nature, but essentially all of the rest of the song is propelled by fast or, at least, consistent double bass drumming - whilst lots of space is given over to Main's screams. This may be the song here which features him the most prominently. He shares the verses with Ashley, but there is a bridge section later which is all him - and it is easily the album's heaviest individual moment, leading nicely into quite a lengthy guitar solo. The chorus feels a bit more traditional, though, with some building and epic vocal melodies from Ashley, but there are still harsh vocals in the chorus, too - which reinforces the fact that this song is one of the heaviest here and that the band are intent on becoming heavier over time. The album's penultimate song Stare into the End is the slowest piece here. It is the album's only ballad and it also feels like an extended intro to the song which follows. As such, the last couple of songs here feel like one longer effort - but the first of the two strips away all of the heaviness and leaves some clean guitar melodies, simple synths, and Ashley's mournful vocals. Due to the song's arrangement and lack of a big instrumental presence, Ashley's voice is given plenty of space to breathe. Given the heavier sound of this album and the need to make way for Main's vocals, I feel that Ashley has reined it in quite a bit here. Seeing him with Power Quest made it clear that he posses a serious range - but that has not really been seen on this album, which is a shame. He sings this ballad well, though, and it allows him to deliver a more emotional performance - something which carries on into Drag Me Below, the album's final song. There is no break between the two pieces, with the latter kicking in once the guitars join in - and the track overall is more lumbering than much of the album. The slower feel of the previous song is retained, albeit with heavier riffing and some harsh vocals. I would not call Drag Me Below a ballad too, but it is certainly on the slower side - with some occasional doomy riffing and another strong chorus which benefits from the more precise overall pace. There is less of a metalcore feel here despite the busier drumming and the harsh vocals and there is a bit more of a production overall with synths and strings coming in towards the end to help the song fade out. It is clear that the band wanted to go for something more epic to end the album and generally the one-two punch of the last two slower songs achieves this. Overall, then, I would say that Mask of Lies is an enjoyable album by a band who seem to be a bit in two minds of which way to turn. The mix of a more traditional feel and a metalcore influence does work on the whole, but there are moments where the styles clash - and there are also strong differences between some of the songs as a result. Given how long this band have been together this seems a bit strange, but they have not been that prolific over the years and it seems there is more growth to come. It is certainly an album worth checking out, though, and I will be interested to see where they go from here.

The album was released on 14th June 2024 via Rockshots Records. Below is the band's promotional video for Mask of Lies.