Welcome to the Masquerade
| Welcome to the Masquerade | ||||
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| Studio album by Thousand Foot Krutch | ||||
| Released | September 8, 2009 | |||
| Genre | Christian metal, nu metal, alternative metal | |||
| Length | 46:14 | |||
| Label | Tooth & Nail | |||
| Producer | Aaron Sprinkle | |||
| Thousand Foot Krutch chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Welcome to the Masquerade | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
| Alternative Addiction |  |
| Jesus Freak Hideout | |
| Patrol Magazine | (4.7/10) |
Welcome to the Masquerade is the fifth studio album by Canadian Christian hard rock band Thousand Foot Krutch. It was released on September 8, 2009. Trevor McNevan, the band's frontman, has stated, "Yeah, I think the new record is definitely more aggressive. In some areas, it's the heaviest we've ever been." The album entered the Billboard top 200 at No. 35 and the Christian Album charts at No. 2.
"The inspiration behind the album comes from people hiding things in their life," McNevan has stated, "Masquerading through life, hiding their frustrations."
"Each song is kind of dealing with those different situations. Some of it is just saying, ‘I’ve been through this, and this is how I found hope in this situation."
"A lot of our peers are getting a little poppier, and I understand that and appreciate it," stated McNevan. "I just felt like for us, it was the right time to step in the other direction. It’s big crunchy rock and roll."
“Between the economy and everything else, this is as good a time as has ever been to drop our stereotypes — all the stuff that separates us — and get down to the black and white of loving people as God intended it to be,” McNevan suggests.
Welcome to the "Masquerade features multiple performers. Aaron Sprinkle returned as the band's producer, from producing the band's previous record Phenomenon, alongside Trevor McNevan. Matt Carter of Emery assisted with McNevan early in 2009. Phil X, who had recorded guitars for the two previous Thousand Foot Krutch records, did not return for this album. However, Randy Torres recorded "some sweet licks" on the record according to a Tooth & Nail podcast. Guitar duties were also shared by McNevan, Sprinkle and a third guest Pete Stewart, who recorded the guitar solo near the end of the song "Fire it Up". Stewart surprisingly entered the studio with TFK despite the fact that he no longer considers himself a Christian. The band additionally hired Randy Staub to mix "Welcome to the Masquerade"; Staub is famous for mixing Metallica's record The Black Album.
"Fire It Up" has already been praised as a hit with a similar potential to "Rawkfist" and "Move" with Tyler Hess of ChristianMusicZine.com describing it as "vintage Thousand Foot Krutch, with obvious arena play potential".
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