thehappymask - Ruines

thehappymask is a pretty good example of the shoegaze metal movement that's recently enjoyed a resurgence.You don't often come across a genuine mystery in the music biz these days - especially in the Internet age. But thehappymask seems to be one of those. Reportedly, Ruines, is the debut effort of a one man band, "Constantine Horizon", who may or may not be Russian in origin. Constantine claims to have come by the inspiration for this album "in a town that doesn't exist". Such is the mystery of thehappymask. But if you're into the shoegaze movement, you should enjoy this "modest musical project".

Ruines is your basic aforementioned shoegaze metal, the subgenre having emerged in the 80s and taken a backseat to grunge in the 90s, but currently enjoying a resurge in popularity these last few years. There's no shredding, but there's no shortage of distortion either. It's something like the wall of sound you get from your basic doom metal bands, but mashed together with the mellow britpop meanderings of acts like The Cocteau Twins - minus the vocals.

The Bottom Line: If you prefer your mellow music on the crunchy side, than the shoegaze stylings of thehappymask might be what you're looking for. Just think instrumental doom britpop metal.

- Genghis just finds this genre a little depressing even without corroborating lyrical content...