REVIEW: Mantar – The Spell (EP)

Bremen, Germany is the home of this Black Metal Doom Punk duo (Hanno on vocals / guitar, Erinc on drums / vocals). So far they have released three albums: Death By Burning (2014), Ode To The Flame (2016) and St. Pauli Sessions in 2016. This is their first EP.

Pest Crusade is a fury-fuelled assault; a Punk-clothed fanfare of vitriol. Modulating between adrenaline rush and Metal styled melodies you get a rough and raw outline to what Mantar are all about. There is plenty to grab hold of here and take away the impression that this is music made from anger and desperation. As the guitars and bass are busy carving and grinding up the their respective frequency ranges the drums are battering along and Hanno‘s vocal style recalls early 80s British and European Punk. This is a concise piece of raw-edged song-writing. Age Of The Vril has a slower, creeping feel to it which brings to the fore the duo’s fundamental roots. It may not be the most erudite expression but this is what Punk and Metal are about – unhindered by genteel considerations the duo just plough right into and through this celebration of grinding, screaming and thundering menace. Stylistically, it may seem a straight forward tune but it delivers through sheer muscle and volume (therefore ticking all the boxes), there is no room for anything other than this. These two songs were recorded at the same time as Ode To The Flame but were left off due to Mantar‘s dislike of long albums although any who have this album will find this EP familiar because of the production. The third and final song, The Spell, is completely new and features Okoi Jones from Bölzer. The corroded grinding noise of the guitar unifies into into a Heavy Rock’n’Roll riff which further transforms into a variation tainted by Punk and Doom. Over this the vocals of Hanno and Okoi dominate – a primal shredded voice scraping against the atmosphere – reflecting the manipulated guitar sound at the start. This song progresses as you might expect: at a constant and dour pace but without any hint of stopping and remaining on the arrow straight path. At the closing stages of the song the intro riff re-emerges with a softening of vocal style just to let up on the extreme nature of The Spell before coming full circle as if the song is a representation of the cycles of human population behaviour.

Their own description of their music pinpoints what to expect however there is more to what they accomplish. They have managed to bring together Punk and Metal and as much as the two remain distinct within Mantar‘s music they also work together in each of the three songs (indeed, across their previous releases as well). In fact what you hear recalls the essence of early Thrash Metal but without solos as such which then demands that the duo have to find alternatives or write sharp and incisive songs. However, the songs aren’t so much lean as cadaverous but this does allow the listener to appreciate the workings of the songs, and it also allows Mantar to exploit the purer and heavier approach to which they are well suited. This is an encompassing if compact introduction to the music of this German duo, an inexpensive way to sample what they do for anyone unfamiliar and for the fans it is a neat little stopgap release before their next album.

http://mantarband.com/

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