''Welcome to the Masquerade'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

band

Thousand Foot Krutch Thousand Foot Krutch (often abbreviated TFK) is a Canadian Christian rock band formed in Peterborough, Ontario, in 1997. The band has released eight studio albums, two live albums, and three remix albums. The band currently consists of foundin ...

. It was released on September 8, 2009.

Trevor McNevan Trevor McNevan is a Canadian singer who is best known as the lead singer, songwriter and rapper of Thousand Foot Krutch, lead singer and songwriter of pop punk side project FM Static along with Steve Augustine (the third Thousand Foot Krutch dr ...

, 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'' 200 at No. 35 and the Christian Album charts at No. 2.

Musical style and concept

"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.

Guests

''Welcome to the "Masquerade'' features multiple performers.

Aaron Sprinkle Aaron Sprinkle (born March 20, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer from Seattle, Washington. Career His career in music began in high school with a group called BellBangVilla. BellBangVilla became Poor Old Lu and the ...

returned as the band's producer, from producing the band's previous record ''

Phenomenon A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...

'', alongside Trevor McNevan. Matt Carter of Emery assisted with McNevan early in 2009.

Phil X Theofilos Xenidis (born March 10, 1966), better known as Phil X, is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Since 2013, he has played lead guitar with Bon Jovi and officially replaced former lead guitarist Richie Sambora in 2016. Career Early ...

, 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 Pete Stewart is a singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer from Seattle, Washington. He is the lead singer and guitarist of Grammatrain, was the lead singer for The Accident Experiment, and is the former guitarist of Tait. Stewart released s ...

, 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 Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's record '' The Black Album''.

Reception

Fire It Up Fire It Up may refer to: * ''Fire It Up'' (Rick James album), 1979, and the title track * ''Fire It Up'' (EP), a 1993 EP by Kid Rock * ''Fire It Up'' (Tinsley Ellis album), 1997 * ''Fire It Up'' (Kottonmouth Kings album), 2004 * "Fire It Up" (B ...

" has already been praised as a hit with a similar potential to "

Rawkfist "Rawkfist" (pronounced "rock fist") is a song by the Canadian rock band Thousand Foot Krutch. It is the fifth track from their third album ''Phenomenon'' (2003), and it was released as the album's second single on January 26, 2004. ESPN Sports Cen ...

" and "

Move Move may refer to: People *Daniil Move (born 1985), a Russian auto racing driver Brands and enterprises * Move (company), an online real estate company * Move (electronics store), a defunct Australian electronics retailer * Daihatsu Move Gov ...

" with Tyler Hess of ChristianMusicZine.com describing it as "vintage Thousand Foot Krutch, with obvious arena play potential". C.E. Moore of TheChristianManifesto.com described the song "as everything you've come to love about the band. It's a raucous number that will get your heart pumping, your feet moving, and your head banging. 'Fire It Up' fires on all cylinders." Roger Gelwicks of Jesusfreakhideout praised the album on his review "TFK dons a more produced approach to hard rock this time around while at the same time maintaining the unrestrained and raucous vibe the band is known for. And this being the fifth album from the Canadian band, there's a progression here that many old and new fans have waited to hear," he stated. Allmusic.com also had high praise for the album "the band's full-scale audio assault makes it difficult to imagine that they could ever top the crystal-clear production and deliberate crunch of Masquerade. Each track is propelled by muscular riffs, fighting its way into permanent memory alongside the greatest mainstream rock bands of the decade," their review states. "Fire It Up" has peaked at No. 35 on the Billboard Rock charts while "

Bring Me to Life "Bring Me to Life" is the debut single by American rock band Evanescence from their debut studio album, ''Fallen'' (2003). Wind-up released it as the album's lead single on April 7, 2003. The song was written by Amy Lee when she was 19, after ...

" has peaked at number No. 2 on Christian Rock radio. "Forward Motion" has reached No. 48 on the Billboard Christian Songs charts.

Release and promotion

"Bring Me To Life" was available for free download during June 2009 from the band's site if an email address was provided. Both "Fire It Up" and "Bring Me To Life" were added to the band's live set list before the album was released. "Bring Me To Life" was first played live at Ignite Alaska in Fairbanks, Alaska, where the band performed the song as their encore. McNevan said that it was the first time the band had played a song live that had not already been released on an album. They also played "Fire It Up" at Wonder Jam in June 2009. The band announced a Fall 2009 tour to support ''Welcome to The Masquerade'', sharing the stage with Jars of Clay, AA Talks,

B.Reith Brian James Reith, better known as B. Reith, is a Christian hip hop/ pop singer and rapper. He began his musical career with the release of his first album, "Urgent Message", in 2003. In 2008, Reith signed to Gotee Records and released his EP '' ...

FM Static FM Static is a Canadian Christian pop punk duo based in Toronto, Ontario. The band was formed in 2003 as a side project for Thousand Foot Krutch. The band consists of Trevor McNevan and Steve Augustine. The original lineup included John Bunne ...

and

This Beautiful Republic This Beautiful Republic was an American Christian rock band signed to ForeFront Records in November 2006. They are best known for their song "Right Now". The group appeared on the Christian television show ''The Logan Show'' on December 9, 2006. T ...

. The album was made for pre-order on July 24, 2009, and was released on September 8, 2009 without delay. The trailer for the album was released on August 3. It featured a 45-second clip of the song "Welcome to the Masquerade". "Fire It Up" is featured in ''

NHL 10 ''NHL 10'' is a video game in the NHL series developed and released by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts, and is the 19th game in the series. The game debuted at Hockey Fest '09, a three-day interactive festival celebrating the sport of ...

'' and ''

MX vs. ATV Reflex ''MX vs. ATV Reflex'' is a 2009 off-road racing video game developed by Rainbow Studios and published by THQ. It is the third game in the ''MX vs. ATV'' series, available on Microsoft Windows and all seventh-generation consoles except the Wii. It ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

. It is also featured in the G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra trailer. "Fire It Up" has also been released for download on the Rock Band music store. On September 3, 2009, on the Tooth and Nail podcast, McNevan confirmed that a music video was in pre-production for "Fire It Up". "Scream" was used as the introduction music for

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. His films have grossed more than $5.4billion in North America and more than $9.3billion worldwide, making him the seventh-highest-grossing actor in North America. He is the recipient o ...

at the

2009 Scream Awards The Scream Awards is an award show dedicated to the horror, sci-fi, and fantasy genres of feature films, hosted and sponsored by Spike TV. The show was created by executive producers Michael Levitt, Cindy Levitt, and Casey Patterson. Billed simpl ...

. "Invitation/Welcome to the Masquerade" was used for the 2010 Detroit Red Wings Stanley Cup Playoff video played before each game at Joe Louis Arena. It was also the music video for 2009's video game ''Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2:Fusion''. "Fire It Up" is the theme tune of the Backdraft monster truck, driven by Jeremy Slifko. A fan edition of ''Welcome to the Masquerade'' came out on October 11, 2011. It contained three new tracks, including "Shook", "Take it Out on Me" and "Anyone Else".

Track listing

Singles

" was released as the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

on April 22, 2009. *" Forward Motion" was released as a radio single on May 17, 2009. *"

" was released to mainstream

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

radio on July 28, 2009. *" Already Home" - was released on January 6, 2010. *"E for Extinction" was released on June 28, 2010. *"Look Away" was released to Christian CHR in August 2010.

Charts

Awards

In 2010, the album was nominated for a

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards are presented annually. Formerly held in Nashville, Tennessee, the Dove Awards ...

for Rock Album of the Year at the

41st GMA Dove Awards The 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 21, 2010 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2009. The show was held at The Opry Entertainment Complex in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Bart Millard. Nomin ...

.41st Annual GMA Dove Awards nominees announced
on

The Tennessean ''The Tennessean'' (known until 1972 as ''The Nashville Tennessean'') is a daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. Its circulation area covers 39 counties in Middle Tennessee and eight counties in southern Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett, ...

(February 18, 2010)

Personnel

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Joel Bruyere -

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

* Steve Augustine -

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

* Producer, additional guitars and keyboards:

* Mixed by

Randy Staub Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' " Recording Engineer of the Year" award 12 times. He won in 2002 for the songs "How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad" by Nickelback.Peebles, Frank (April 4, 2008). ...

*Mastering by

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

* Additional guitar on "Fire It Up":

* Additional guitars:

Randy Torres Randy Torres is a guitarist, drummer, keyboardist and background vocalist from Seattle. He has previously played for the bands Project 86, a Christian rock group, and Crash Rickshaw. He has filled in as rhythm guitarist for the band Demon Hunter ...

* All songs written by Trevor McNevan, Steve Augustine and Joel Bruyere

References

External links

album list at Tooth & Nail website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welcome To The Masquerade 2009 albums Thousand Foot Krutch albums Tooth & Nail Records albums Albums produced by Aaron Sprinkle fr:Welcome to the Masquerade