Album Review - Mosaic

The Great Metal Debate Podcast

Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate. Today we’re bringing you another metal album review, featuring the latest from US metallers Theocracy titled Mosaic. Let’s take a dive into this release track-by-track… Mosaic goes right for the throat with the rapid-paced opener “Flicker” which is reminiscent of Dragonforce in its versing. Here we hear the first of many masterful lead breaks executed by new guitarist Taylor Washington, who some might know as frontman for the band Paladin. The next track, “Anonymous,” is classic Theocracy. The vocal melody in the chorus is just a tad sugary for my taste, but fits with the overall vibe of the song and I do love that final shout vocalist Matt Smith gives at the end. There’s also some sturdy riffs scattered throughout by guitarists Washington and Hinds. Third on the listing is the title track “Mosaic,” which was released in advance and in music video format. The song starts softly and then hits hard with Unleash The Arches worthy riffs and leads. I really enjoy the overall feel of that’s created by the band: killer from start to finish with galloping guitars and beautiful, subtle overtones. The next track on the docket is “Sinsidius (Gods Of War).” If found the song bit disjointed at points but it’s still kind of a banger, and definitely one of the heavier tracks on the album. I’m not sure everything works perfectly on this song, but I really appreciate that Theocracy tried a lot different things. Speaking for myself, sometimes the imperfect experiment is more appealing than the safe sure thing, and ultimately it works enough to makes it a fav of mine on the album. In contrast, “Turn To Dust” is much more traditionally structured – a very straightforward and incredibly catchy track. That main riff is a killer, and I am in love with Washington’s solo. I hear hints of “Breaking The Chains” era Dokken in this one. “Turn To Dust” is followed by “The 6th Great Extinction.” Another song where the chorus is slightly too sweet vocally for my taste, although the killer lead makes up for any shortcomings. The band channel Iron Maiden on the intro to “Deified,” which is another fast paced rocker. This song does a great job of creating some dramatic build-ups, with the guitars adding jubilant bursts of sound. The chorus brings it home for the most part, although the track loses some of its steam at the end. “The Greatest Hope” is a brief, ballady track. More than just an interlude, but light in delivery as a full song. Smith’s voice is beautiful but I wasn’t a fan of the melody or pacing used here. The acoustic guitar really didn’t do much for me – I probably would have preferred this one with more orchestrations supporting the vocals instead. Thereafter we find the somewhat schizophrenic “Liar, Fool, or Messiah.” For me there’s a bit of a disconnect between the verses and chorus – they just feel like they’re not quite on the same page. The vocals though are really strong on both counts. The album finale is “Red Sea” – a 19 minute monster that truly delivers. I won’t try to summarize this epic which contains more music than most Eps, but I will say it’s a cohesive song – not merely an amalgam of musical ideas that you sometimes get with such efforts. I love the production, particularly the amazing guitar tone and well-crafted, nuanced keys. Washington’s lead guitarwork is fantastic and longstanding drummer Ernie Topran executes quite well throughout keeping things interesting rhythmically. Smith hits all the notes just right and belts the lyrics with amazing passion. He’s a gem of a singer who sadly has been hidden under a bushel basket as far as popular recognition. This is great stuff, and more than competitive with more recent efforts by Blind Guardian, Beast In Black, or Gloryhammer. I think this is the best album Theocracy have ever put out – I’m giving Mosaic a 9 out of 10.