REVIEW: MEST - 'Masquerade'
Not long ago, just March of 2019, MEST frontman Tony Lovato began a Kickstarter to create a new album under the original pop-punk lineup. To entice fans to donate, MEST offered various rewards to pledgers, such as throwback cassettes, signed copies of the album, among other merchandise. If backers donated $4,500 or more, Lovato promised the band would fly to a venue of their choosing and put on a private acoustic show as a token of their appreciation.
After a tremendously successful Kickstarter campaign, with 939 people contributing, MEST released their first single “Masquerade” on July 19th, 2019. Now, four months removed from the single release, the full album entitled Masquerade made it’s long-awaited debut this past Friday, January 17th.
It has been 14 years since the release of Photographs, but we are still hearing the same infectious pop-punk fused with signature choruses and classic instrumental genius. Masquerade is a deep, explosive, and energetic release from start to finish, and everything that old and new fans alike will come to expect from these punk veterans. MEST does a fantastic job of taking risks atmospherically to promote new sounds that are still uniquely their own. With a slew of bands making their return, no comeback in the realm of pop-punk was more anticipated than MEST and they’ve certainly reminded fans where their love for the genre stems from.