Mantar : "Grungetown Hooligans 2 "

In trying to decide if Mantar is actually a death metal band who has just ridden the sludge line, I just sat down and listened to the album and let it tell me what it was . The vocals are the prime deciding fact along with the pacing. Another factor that sways this is the fact this is album of 90s covers. They chose from noise rock bands, grunge and riot grrrl. The Jesus Lizard song is better than the first of the two L7 songs this duo decided upon.  I have more a connection to Sonic Youth's "100 Percent" and they did a decent enough job of it. You might think the sludge influence of the band would further color this in a way that plays up the punk side of these songs rather than the aggression of death metal. It comes across more industrial given the dancey nature of Mazzy Star's " Ghost Highway". The vocals are almost more sung than snarled here.

They play closer to grunge of their next stab at L7 with "Can I Run" which has lyrics that are still as timely as they were today. I do think it's odd that both songs they choose are from "Hungry For Stink" rather than "Bricks are Heavy" or earlier. Never paid any attention to Babes In Toyland. Thus judging the song on the merits of how it is presented here. More punk than metal in this incarnation. They kind of go off in this punk direction for the rest of the album. It is pretty justified when it comes to covering Mudhoney. It is not the best Mudhoney song to begin with . After Sonic Youth , it would be Mudhoney that I was into the most of the bands covered. I grew to appreciate the Jesus Lizard.

By the time I finished the debate if this was a death metal or a sludge album, I realized this is a punk album. For what it is this is pretty good. I can leave it on and let it play as back ground music. If you are into the rest of the bands then you might have more of an investment in what is going on. Either way I think these songs translate really well as a soundtrack to the past week. It is more punk than what I bargained for so I will round it down to an 8. Being dropped on Brutal Panda.