Hold up a minute, we reviewed the last BLACK MASQUERADE CD “Spread Your Wings” in 2005, and we just got their new CD “Holy and Bright.” Where did all the new members come from? Well I guess just like Yngwie Malmsteen you still have the main member -- guitarist Yoshihiro Nitta who might say is BLACK MASQUERADE.

Full power ‘Scotty, blast off’ the opening track “Jack The Ripper” shoots right out the gate making an impression with new vocalists Kenji Hayashi making former BM vocalist Takashi Sakaguchi a past memory. If you know BLACK MASQUERADE then you don’t need to be introduced to The god Yoshihiro Nitta.

When you’re talking progressive shredding and amazing rock gunslinger you must be talking about Nitta, this guy is the best guitarist coming from the land of the Rising Sun and will be known worldwide, he makes Yngwie look like a second-class citizen. Yngwie’s music is getting repetitive and stale, while Nitta is fresh and about to take the throne.

If you think, the first song is good you haven’t heard anything yet! Check out “Free Forever.” Yeah, I know you’ll be amazed, so empty your piggy bank and pick up “Holy and Bright.”

The album is not all about shredding either, you get a little pop sound with “Don’t Forget”; I like the change of pace it brings more of a late Eighties feel. As I listen to the instrumental “Silent Scene” and start to mellow out feeling I’m on a carousel ride, Black Masquerade breaks my eardrums with “Hell’s Gate.” It breaks out pounding hard metal through my headphones. That woke me up!

If you want some rock, some great guitar and vocally strong with an Asian flare, You can’t get much better than BLACK MASQUERADE. Check Hayashi pipes on “Iliya,” that boy can sing and hitting the high notes no problem.