Style: progressive metal, power metal (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Unleash The Archers, Epica, Nightwish, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Country: Washington, D.C., United States
Release date: 17 January 2025
Here I go again, perpetuating my sin of reviewing albums inspired by something I have little-to-no personal connection to myself. I’ll say it up front: I have never played Majora’s Mask, or in fact any Legend of Zelda game.1 What can I say, I’ve never been a Nintendo guy. But I know the great impact that these games have had on the people who play them and on the medium of video games as a whole, so I still feel that loving inspiration carried on through the band and into their music. Master Sword took great care in paying homage to the game’s iconic creepy fantasy atmosphere, a care that’s evident in their numerous references to the source material. This labor of love results from a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund greater resources for its mastering and production, but Toying With Time is only the first half of Master Sword’s plan to cover Majora’s Mask, with part two expected to receive its own Kickstart™ at some unannounced future time.
Toying With Time hits just the right balance of referencing its source material enough to please Zelda fans without overloading listeners like myself for whom that connection has little meaning. Most of these references would fly by unnoticed by the unprepared ear, but once they’ve been pointed out, the homages add a fun bit of spice and help make the album feel uniquely connected to the game rather than being just another prog-power release. To name a few examples, opener “The Salesman” drops in a cheeky lyrical reference to one of the franchise’s iconic lines with “It’s dangerous alone”; “How You Hide” mimics the notes of the “Great Fairy Fountain” theme in its chorus; and “Shadows of the Mind” hints at the “Song of Healing,” while the closing track “Child of the Night” imitates Skullkid’s villainous laugh and possibly pays homage to “Majora’s Theme” in its opening melody and chorus. One of the highlights, though, is “My Last Breath,” with guest Professor Shyguy joining for a powerful vocal duet, which retells the side-quest story of Anju and Kafei, two lovers cursed to remain apart until the hero intervenes to reunite them. Even without knowing the backstory or source material, it stands out as a touching ballad, and it only grows more meaningful with that added context.
Although Master Sword have been around the musical block a few times now, something about Toying With Time’s production feels slightly off-kilter at times. As early as the opening track “The Salesman,” the different parts fight with each other for attention, guitars and drums trading their loudness back and forth seemingly at random as the piece develops. Even the vocals fall victim to this internal conflict around the 3:15 mark, where the lead melody almost gets buried by a strangely loud choral backing part. These mixing woes don’t feature as clearly in any other tracks as they do in the opener, but they also never fully subside. Little hiccups crop up just often enough to interrupt what should otherwise be clean transitions or moments of complex overlapping parts and prevent Toying With Time from feeling fully professional in its polish.
Singer Lily Andromeda forms the most consistent core of this outfit, bringing the kind of razor-sharp, powerful delivery expected of female-fronted power metal acts like Master Sword. Production and mixing concerns aside, her consistent strength brings out the best and most memorable moments throughout Toying With Time, including the belted chorus of “Dance of the Demon” and the aforementioned balladic duet “My Last Breath.” As for the instrumentals backing her up, while they have their shining moments (such as, again, “Dance of the Demon” as well as the urgent, exciting, Unleash The Archers-esque rhythms of the title track), they also are the first to fall into rote rhythms which seem to loop on and on forever (although I suppose that’s appropriate for Majora’s Mask) when a track’s energy begins to drop.
Despite all the pieces of heart they’ve gathered and the strong source of their inspiration, Master Sword’s execution doesn’t always land with the kind of poise and impact I might hope for. This type of prog-power typically thrives on bold layers of vocals and instrumentals supporting each other, some taking up steady but energetic rhythms while others lead with lofty, epic melodies. Too often, though, Master Sword falls into a rut where none of these goals quite come to fruition, leaving the melody line (whether carried by vocals or guitar) with a conspicuous lack of hooks, and even the backing rhythms frequently settle into over-repetition of some simple beat that doesn’t inspire any particular enthusiasm in the listener. “Shadows of the Mind” demonstrates this core struggle perfectly; both vocals and guitars seem to spin in circles for the first three minutes before the second half breaks out into a more mysterious vocal tone and more active, engaging instrumental parts that finally put forth the sort of epic fantasy feel I would expect from a band like this. The closing duo “Son of Stone (Winter’s Requiem)” and “Child of the Night” also don’t make the best use of their longer runtimes and climactic positioning—both tracks have individual strong moments, but lack a powerful through-line that could bring the album the finale its concept deserves.
At no point is the band’s passion for music or for their Hylian muse in doubt, but certain moments do more credit to that passion than others. Sporting a healthy amount of references to the Majora’s Mask source material—enough to entice long-time fans, but not so much that an uninitiated listener feels out of the loop—Toying With Time has all the hallmarks of a standard prog-power album, but only sometimes achieves the stirring, forceful delivery owed to source material of this caliber. Still, it’s a fun romp with consistently excellent vocals and a handful of moments where it really does feel like you might be listening to Hyrule’s very own metal band. If you find yourself heading alone into danger, perhaps it would help to bring along a Master Sword.
Recommended tracks: Dance of the Demon, My Last Breath, Toying With Time
You may also like: Empress, Scardust, Flame Imperishable, Divine Ascension, Seven Kingdoms
Final verdict: 6/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Master Sword is:
– Lily Andromeda (vocals)
– Matt Farkas (keyboards, guitars, backing vocals)
– Andy Stark (drums, backing vocals)
– Kojo Kamya (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals)
– Will Lopez (bass)
With guests:
– Prof. Shyguy (vocals, “How You Hide” and “My Last Breath”)
– 88Bit (piano, “My Last Breath”)
– Elizabeth Webb (vocals, “Son of Stone (Winter’s Requiem)”)
– Robert Cameron (backing vocals, “Child of the Night”)
– Adam Schloss (backing vocals, “Child of the Night”)
– James Hunter (backing vocals, “Child of the Night”)
- That said, a huge thank you to my girlfriend for helping me identify several references and direct inspirations from the game! ↩︎
