Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia and led by the captivating vocals of frontman Andy Hull, Manchester Orchestra are a band that have achieved one of the trickiest feats for an indie rock outfit – making each album feel at once unique yet quintessentially identifiable as theirs. From debut album I’m Like A Virgin Losing A Child all the way through to their most recent release, 2017’s A Black Mile To The Surface, each new Manchester Orchestra record not only felt like it contained the band’s DNA at it’s very core, but also progressively improved on its predecessor and offered something new. Very few bands can do this, and it's a sign, if any were needed, of their incredible talent as songwriters and performers.

While each album has also earned the band legions of new fans, it was A Black Mile To The Surface – a record loosely built around the theme of the birth of Hull’s daughter – that carried them to the very top of their game. The long-awaited follow-up, The Million Masks Of God, arrived earlier this year, and while it’s not a concept album, guitarist Robert McDowell’s father’s battle with cancer loomed large over the record’s creation, imbibing the album with some of the most intense emotions that the band have captured in the studio to date.

Opening track Inaudible synthesises this feeling perfectly from the off, a four-minute affair that dances around electronic flourishes and strings, building to it’s powerful crescendo. Angel Of Death is probably the heaviest track on the album, a rip-roaring affair that leads nicely into the kaleidoscopic Keel Timing, itself a skittish and undulating romp that acts as a companion piece to the album’s lead single, the thunderously addictive Bed Head.

The second half of The Million Masks Of God is a more sedate affair, with tracks like Telepath, Let It Storm, and Obstacle providing gentler but no less stirring listening. Sitting in the middle of the album, Annie acts as the transition between act one and act two, and might just be the best song here, while The Internet is a dark and brooding finale that mirrors The Silence, the similarly atmospheric closer to A Black Mile To The Surface.

There’s an awful lot to digest with The Million Masks Of God, but when the dust settles it's hard not to come to the realisation that it might just be the band’s most ambitious and complete work to date. Hull’s vocals have never sounded better, while the variety of craftsmanship and the power inherent in each song make it a collection that fans will absolutely adore. 

The Million Masks Of God tracklist:

1. Inaudible
2. Angel Of Death
3. Keel Timing
4. Bed Head
5. Annie
6. Telepath
7. Let It Storm
8. Dinosaur
9. Obstacle
10. Way Back
11. The Internet

Watch the official video for Bed Head here. 

Author: Joe Sharratt

Joe Sharratt is a writer and journalist based in the UK covering music, literature, sport, and travel.