Roots Of Eternity

The debut album of Danish Manticora has been resurrected and re-released by the band's current label Massacre Records. A nice move due to the album is out of print from the label, Black Lotus, which originally released it. Besides that has the album been re-mastered by Andy Horn, which has given more power to the music.

The debut from the Danes is a nice display of power metal, with a progressive touch and a raw thrashy edge at times. The compositions are well made and pretty catchy, even though the album needs a few spins or more, before one really realizes the full potential of the music. There are some good riffs here and there, and the skills from the guitarists are shown to its full extent, there are some good leads and solos as well. The band has a good ear for catchy and smooth melodies and uses them clever, both musically and vocal-wise.

In the light of knowing better now, the vocal performance is really good and shows the potential that Lars F. Larsen later developed into a really powerful and hard hitting tool. Though I still find his performance and strength on this album both good and very charming, he has always had a good voice.

If you are into power metal and don't own this album, you now have the chance to catch up and secure it. It is worth every pence and I guarantee that you'll enjoy it. The enchanting melodies, the great pace shifts and shifts in the atmospheres, as the band touches different lyrical subjects. Slight touches of progressiveness and some thrashy riffs here and there, together with the high energetic performances from the band, makes a good album. Besides the album, "Roots Of Eternity", 2 tracks from the band's debut release, the MCD "Dead End Solution" are included on this release, it are the tracks 'How?' and 'The Pain You Offer'.

7½/10

Darkness With Tales To Tell 

Manticora's second album of hopefully many more, than the 4 they so far has made. The album has been re-released by Massacre Records and re-mastered by Andy Horn, which once again has given the album a more powerful sound than the original, and it has also put more focus on the powerful guitar work.

It's a nice and varied album Manticora here has made, it has the trademark melodies, thrashy riffs, and killer vocals from Lars F. Larsen. The guitars are sublime, there are many good riffs, great melodies and godly solos. If you're into guitarplaying and shredding, there is something to enjoy on this album. The shredding from Kristian Larsen especially is killing, and kind of sad that he hasn't received more acknowledgement than he has, because he is a good guitar player. The bass on this album is nice, even though it wouldn't have hurt if it would have gotten more space in the sound picture. The drumming from Mads Volf is as always hard hitting, with thundering double bass drumming, an aggressive snare drum and good use of cymbals and toms, there for sure are some nice fills and rhythms. There are some really good notes from the keyboard as well on this album, nice atmospheric play in the background, and some more spacey progressive keys in the front, both works fine, and not overdone at all.

There are some really good tracks on the album, the catchy and straight forward power metal tune 'Dragon's Mist', with good guitars, killer vocals, powerful choirs, atmospheric keyboards, straight out of the book. The dark atmospheric opener 'The Chance Of Dying In A Dream', asking the profound question we all once in a while have thought about. The atmosphere the band catches in track is good, and again good guitars and the thundering drums are fitting the track perfectly and again good and fitting vocals. At last we have the titletrack placed in the end, which is quite funny for such a strong track. There are tons of great guitars on that tune, lots of good harmonies, atmosphere en masse, good keys and a present bass, and nice vocals, the mood is changing quite a bit throughout the song, another good tune on this album. Now you have 3 tracks to check out, when you go to listen to this album, but the rest of the album is up too speed, a good second effort from the Danes. As the bonustrack we have the titletrack from the mini CD "Dead End Solution".

8/10

Hyperion 

A concept album is more or less always a win or loose chance to take, when writing music. Either the band will end up with a killer record, that both the press and fans will adore, or the direct opposite. Manticora felt it was time to fight the battle of men, and try to make a full concept album, after they have tried power with the concept of "The Saga Of The Exiles" which is divided into 4 pieces, 2 on "Roots Of Eternity" and 2 on "Darkness With Tales To Tell". Manticora has chosen to build their concept over Dan Simmons' book Hyperion, though only loosely, as the author wouldn't let them use names and places in the book. I haven't read the book myself, but after having spent an unhealthy amount of time with this album, I have to give it a shot, if the book is as gripping as the band's tales based on it.

The music is as always catchy power metal, with great melodies, good hooks and great vocals, when we speak Manticora. The band has really found its niche now, and develops greatly within it, without stepping out of the boundaries of what we think is Manticora, and without getting boring. The compositions on this album are really gripping and enchanting, the atmospheres are well made, and tells a story, with all its ups and downs, the music is very alive. The material stands out as very worked through and complete, both composition-wise and musically.

The album gives us a fan favourite like the energetic 'Cantos', which crushes through everything and leaves us breathless back. And my favourite on the album is the grande and atmospheric ballad 'Reversed', where especially Lars' fragile vocals are killer and invokes a superb melancholic atmosphere, together with the quiet guitar, skilful keys and deep bass. Before slowly getting aggressive and hard hitting towards the mid, where it turns into a great quiet guitar solo, before it more or less goes back to the atmosphere it started with.

Until now this album stands as the band's magnum opus, and we can only await Dan Simmons to give the band a green light to make the follow up "Fall Of Hyperion", that for sure would be the day. Though until then there are a lot of hours of listening pleasure in this album, it has everything a fan can wish for from modern and aggressive power metal with a progressive touch, in other words all we can expect from Manticora. And as the bonustrack on this re-mastered re-release we have 'In Your Face' from the "Dead End Solution" mini album.

9/10 

Manticora website.

Distributed in Denmark by VME and kindly supplied by Intromental Management