Reviewed by Mike Rimmer

Retroactive Records have been doing such a great job of bringing long lost albums from Christian music history back to life that they should be called Resurrection Records. In this case the band Mass have a real gem of an album, 'New Birth' which was released on mainstream label RCA. The band had previously been signed but then dropped by A&M Records so it's clear that they held their ground with metal contemporaries in the '80s. Fronted by the glorious vocals of the wonderfully named Louis St August (now isn't that the perfect Spinal Tap-style metal name?) this is tight crunchy metal with great guitar work from Gene D'Itria (Spinal Tap again?) that stands up well nearly 30 years after release. This stands at the intersection of melodic metal and hard rock but with enough edge to give the album a powerful punch. (Did someone say hairbands?) For me tracks like "Too Far Gone" and "Watch Her Walk" are ear catching, energetic metal anthems which have lost none of their appeal. "Time" is overdriven rock and "Back To Me" packs a riffy punch. You can see why mainstream labels would take a punt on the band and it's great all these years later that Christian rock and hard music fans get a chance to get to know the band.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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