On disc: Manticora

 
 Darkness With Tales To Tell
  
 Rod Capozzi -
 
 


 
 Safe
 
- Claudia Ehrhardt -
 
 


 
 Safe
 
- Umberto Mino -
 
 

Safe

(Nightmare Records - 2010)



 
 

 

A big come back for the Danish band Manticora after their two parts concept albums The Black Circus, this new Safe really kick ass; this is a big monster album where all the kinds of Manticora's sound is showed and the job of Lars, Kristian, Mads, Martin and Kasper in their next European headline tour must be well done!!!!

But let's go with this track by track Safe review..... this CD starts with the powerful In The Abyss Of Desperation, a good way to open fire.... and the followers Silence Of The Freedom and Complete are really powerful and the word freedom is still in my head!!!!

From The Pain Of Loss is a mid-tempo that takes no prisoners, a good prelude to A Lake That Drained where the speed returns to kill our ears, and where the chorus is well done!!! Carrion Eaters is showing us the usual Manticora sound but a little bit darker, deeper... a good prelude for the majestic title track Safe, fourteen minutes of musical ecstasy, fourteen minutes of metal-progressive pathos!!!

In honesty, with this album Manticora deserve to do this headline tour and I try to be there to see how they kick audience asses.....

 
 










Umberto Mino


  
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Safe

(Nightmare Records - 2010)



 
 

 

Danish power metal outfit Manticora is around for more then a decade and even if their last album - The Black Circus Part II - was released in 2007, they frequently presented new albums and so Safe is their 7 full-length album.

They head into their new album Safe with In The Abyss Of Desperation, a modern up-tempo power metal tune with complex structures. The chorus will hook you up. Next in line Silence The Freedom, kicking off mid-paced they storm off a little later. But with twists and turns they surprise the listener at this 7+ minute long track. Live this one will be a highlight and make fans sing along and headbang. They lead you into Complete with a longer instrumental passage which features guitarists Kristian Larsen and Martin Arendal, but all is based on the rhythmic playground of bassist Kasper Gram and drummer Mads Volf. Complete is another fast track with breaks and mid-paced passages.

Manticora did a video for From The Pain Of Loss (I Learned About The Truth), a kind of appetizer for Safe - and so a good way to check out Manticora.







At From The Pain Of Loss (I Learned About The Truth) you get some thrashy parts, but also epic passages. It's the variety of sounds which make it interesting to listen to Lars F. Larsen and his mates. The following A Lake That Drained has a catchy chorus - with big backing vocals - as well as thrashy riffs. After Carrion Eaters they present the closer Safe. The title track is about 14 minutes long, an epic sonic journey including a slow, semi-acoustic passage where Lars F. Larsen could show another facet. Well done!

Manticora are already playing shows to support Safe live and they are a strong live band! Don't miss them!

 

 










Claudia Ehrhardt


  
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Darkness With Tales To Tell

(Scarlet Records - 2001)



 
 

 

This album is not exactly new, but it's very worthy to be known by true heavy metal fans.

The 2nd album from this Danish power metal band comes with a much more melodic ap­proach than their debut. Still fast and heavier than most heavy melodic bands, they can gather more fans due to this singularity.

Heavy guitars and an excellent work of drums are the best qualities of this album. In a sea of power/melodic bands storming the coasts, with most of them sounding as copycats of each other, Manticora comes to add a new flavor. Much heavier and still epic. A lot of tempo changing shows all skills and tech­niques of it's members.

The band is composed by Kristian Larsen (guitars), Lars Larsen (vocals), Rene Nielsen  (bass), Flemming  Schultz (guitars), Mads Volf (drums) and Jeppe Eg (keyboards). Everything sounds correct, Lars voice and his usual doubles are perfect here. All tracks are very good, but songs like Critical Mass, Darkness With Tales To Tell, The Chance Of Dying In A Dream, The Nightfall War and Felice are classics. Other songs worth to be mentioned, as masterpieces are Dragon's Mist, Lost Souls and Dynasty Of Fear. The ballad The Puzzle is cool and sounds nice, although nothing really special. The Intro, ...From Far Beyond is expendable, as it does not add anything to the album. The last album had the same problem, intros without sense.

The did sign with SPV for distribution. We hope that they can make a good promotion of this album, for some extensive tours. Get a copy, if you like heavy music and are bored with all bands that do the same. Here you will find something new and awesome.
 
 










Rod Capozzi


  
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