Mason - Seconds To Impact (2025)

The band Mason are back with their sophomore release Seconds to Impact. I had heard positive word of mouth regarding their debut, but had not heard any tracks. Prior to this review, I checked out their first single, ‘All I Ever Wanted’. It had a bit of a mellow yet engaging AOR feel to it and I was won over by the vibrato and emoting of lead singer Marcus Mason. It’s a simple but catchy ditty that made me want to check out what this album had to offer. I’m glad that I did. This album is chock full of quality melodic AOR belters.

While a bunch of these tracks are mid-tempo and a bit laid back, nearly all of them have a catchiness that sticks with you long after you stop listening. Opener ‘Hard to Tame’ is one of them. A fantastic track that required multiple plays before I moved on to the next song. There’s a passion and feel to the chorus that can be solely attributed to the vocal fluctuations of Mr. Mason. Add a killer solo into the mix and you have everything you need to get jazzed about all the album has to offer.

While those first two tracks are more mid-tempo, the album does have tracks with a beefed-up guitar sound and a bit of a harder edge, offering a nice change up. Far from metallic, but a bit of urgency and an increased tempo. Tracks like ‘Waiting for You’, ‘Never Be This Way’, and, a personal favorite, ‘Crime of Love’, all rock a bit harder. That last track borrows a bit of the melody line from Heart’s ‘Barracuda’ in the intro and chorus but takes a unique spin with the vocal performance from Marcus. His approach on this track is reminiscent of a singer in an 80s New Wave band, making for an interesting hybrid of genres.

The album hits a bit of a lull with ‘Crescent Moon’. The ballad meanders and never seems to get out of first gear. What you get with the opening chords you get throughout the entire track. One would expect to hear this type of song in a lounge setting.

Fortunately, things pick up with the rest of the album. ‘You Don’t Know Me’ goes for that laid back AOR that opened the album and has a great sing-along chorus. The back half of the album finds one of my favorite tracks. ‘Lost and Lonely’ has a great mix of both featured genres. You get that AOR melody feel and a grittier sound with a prominent guitar placed higher in the mix.

I find releases from Eonian Records to be of varying degrees of sonic quality. This release, while a little underproduced, does not sound like tape reels that have been sitting in a box for 30 years. There’s some muscle to the guitar and a nice bottom end sound in the bass and drums. I prefer an album that is not glossy. There’s an earthiness to it that feels genuine. These guys are not hiding behind studio tricks, and in a world where AI music is on the rise, I appreciate music that sounds like the whole band recorded the tracks together in the studio.

The songs on this album feel like they could be parts of a soundtrack to a Grade B 80s movie, and that’s not an insult. The magic here is found in the vocals of Marcus Mason. The man does not have a tremendous range but what he has is a tone that conveys a passion that resonates. His voice makes these songs stick in your head. This is a fabulous release that should not be missed.