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Tracklist
1. If? (intro)
2. King Of The Absurd
3. Playing God
4. Melancholic
5. Creator Of Failure
6. It Feels Like The End
7. Enigma
8. Fall From Grace
9. Help Me Like No One Can
10. If, Then (outro)
label: NIGHTMARE RECORDS
Line-up
Lars F. Larsen (v)
Kristian Larsen (g)
Mads Volf (d)
Kasper Gram (Bass)
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Finn Zierler (k)
Deadly Sins, a concept album about a man lying in his death bed and remembering the positive and negative things he has done in his life, is the fifth album by Danish melodic metal band Manticora. Although this power metal stuff is repeating itself again and again, Manticora show at least on some tracks that they are able to differ from the big number of metal clones releasing too many albums. Melancholic and Creature Of Failure are two faster and even slightly brutal songs containing thrash metal elements. Especially the bombastic vocal lines remind me of the very early Blind Guardian. Unfortunately there are also some calmer and epic elements on the album that often sound too traditional. I know that there are actually lots of metal fans who like this stuff, but haven't we heard a song like Enigma already hundreds of times before? Especially the ballad Fall From Grace really made me skip to the next track. I'm sure that this album may be ok for the classic metal masses, but for my taste, Manticora could develop into a more thrashy direction as they proved with some songs on this album that this is absolutely no problem for them.
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Wow. First Mercenary, now Manticora. That makes two good metalreleases in one year, coming from Denmark. I honestly can't remember that happening since...well, ever? Manticora have with 8 Deadly Sins released their 4th album, though I have to admit that this is my first meeting with the band. I had read some earlier reviews of the album, and some writers claimed the album to be reminiscent of Blind Guardian's Somewhere Far Beyond. Such a a bold statement clearly got my hopes up about this release, although keeping fresh in mind that such claims very rarely turns out to be accurate. As was the case this time around. The singer has some parts of his higher screams that sometimes might remind me of Hansi Kьrsch (they both have quite raw and unpolished voices), and some of the choir-parts of Manticora's refrains occationaly brings my mind to something close to Blind Guardian. However, I'd rather dub Manticora as a fairly plain agressive power metal band, with hints of both speed metal, thrash metal and heavy metal. Come to think of it, the vocals are far more similar to Warrel Dane of Nevermore, than those of Hansi Kьrsch. The songs presented on 8 Deadly Sins are without a doubt of a high quality, presenting lots of tempo changes and skilfull musicianship, and they very seldom turn tedious. Yet, I feel that something is lacking that could put it all over the top. Looking back into some old reviews of their previous records, it seems that I'm not alone. The world has been waiting for the band to blossom in all of their splendour for many years now, and I'm a bit uncertain if this is the album that'll fully place them alongside with the big names in the world of heavy metal. It is certainly a good effort though, as the album continues to grow spin for spin. Sadly, the time of this reviewer is highly limited, therefore I haven't gotten around to giving it more than 5 rounds in the player so far, so who knows? It might continue to grow still. I advice you to invest some time in this album, 'cause I get alot of positive vibes from it...
Rating: 80/100
Written by Ole Kristian Mastadшy
1. If? (intro)
2. King Of The Absurd
3. Playing God
4. Melancholic
5. Creator Of Failure
6. It Feels Like The End
7. Enigma
8. Fall From Grace
9. Help Me Like No One Can
10. If, Then (outro)
label: NIGHTMARE RECORDS
Line-up
Lars F. Larsen (v)
Kristian Larsen (g)
Mads Volf (d)
Kasper Gram (Bass)
+
Finn Zierler (k)
Deadly Sins, a concept album about a man lying in his death bed and remembering the positive and negative things he has done in his life, is the fifth album by Danish melodic metal band Manticora. Although this power metal stuff is repeating itself again and again, Manticora show at least on some tracks that they are able to differ from the big number of metal clones releasing too many albums. Melancholic and Creature Of Failure are two faster and even slightly brutal songs containing thrash metal elements. Especially the bombastic vocal lines remind me of the very early Blind Guardian. Unfortunately there are also some calmer and epic elements on the album that often sound too traditional. I know that there are actually lots of metal fans who like this stuff, but haven't we heard a song like Enigma already hundreds of times before? Especially the ballad Fall From Grace really made me skip to the next track. I'm sure that this album may be ok for the classic metal masses, but for my taste, Manticora could develop into a more thrashy direction as they proved with some songs on this album that this is absolutely no problem for them.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wow. First Mercenary, now Manticora. That makes two good metalreleases in one year, coming from Denmark. I honestly can't remember that happening since...well, ever? Manticora have with 8 Deadly Sins released their 4th album, though I have to admit that this is my first meeting with the band. I had read some earlier reviews of the album, and some writers claimed the album to be reminiscent of Blind Guardian's Somewhere Far Beyond. Such a a bold statement clearly got my hopes up about this release, although keeping fresh in mind that such claims very rarely turns out to be accurate. As was the case this time around. The singer has some parts of his higher screams that sometimes might remind me of Hansi Kьrsch (they both have quite raw and unpolished voices), and some of the choir-parts of Manticora's refrains occationaly brings my mind to something close to Blind Guardian. However, I'd rather dub Manticora as a fairly plain agressive power metal band, with hints of both speed metal, thrash metal and heavy metal. Come to think of it, the vocals are far more similar to Warrel Dane of Nevermore, than those of Hansi Kьrsch. The songs presented on 8 Deadly Sins are without a doubt of a high quality, presenting lots of tempo changes and skilfull musicianship, and they very seldom turn tedious. Yet, I feel that something is lacking that could put it all over the top. Looking back into some old reviews of their previous records, it seems that I'm not alone. The world has been waiting for the band to blossom in all of their splendour for many years now, and I'm a bit uncertain if this is the album that'll fully place them alongside with the big names in the world of heavy metal. It is certainly a good effort though, as the album continues to grow spin for spin. Sadly, the time of this reviewer is highly limited, therefore I haven't gotten around to giving it more than 5 rounds in the player so far, so who knows? It might continue to grow still. I advice you to invest some time in this album, 'cause I get alot of positive vibes from it...
Rating: 80/100
Written by Ole Kristian Mastadшy