Chants of Maldoror from the Lazio region of Italy near Rome are back, and continue were they left off with their debut album some years ago. But now on 'Every Mask Tells The Truth' they have created a more cohesive album and refined their style. Adolphe's vocals are in the fashion of dramatic screeches, elongated wails, and impious accents reminiscent of Rozz Williams, which leads to an appreciable comparison of Mephisto Walz in the guitar sound. The pianos and keys set it apart from all other comparisons, contributing a windfall of electronic elements and rhythms to a stalwart gothic-wave/deathrock manner.

On 'Cruel With Us' and 'We Stand Alone' they create a brilliant montage of rhythm and melody, replete with beautiful and stinging lyrics. Songs like 'Wounded Canvas' are deliciously thick, coagulated landslides of doom and gloom, bass heavy with accents and echoes of guitars. The songs waft off into filmscore-esque ambiance with Interludes cutting the album into thirds, exploiting their theatric tendency. The album as a whole is excellent and a great advancement since 'Thy Hurting Heaven', with not a bad song on the disc. Chants Of Maldoror are easily one of the best purveyors of dark music with energy and imagination.