This black metal super group of sorts caught my eye as it features the singer of one of my all-time favorite black metal bands Shining. Niklas Kvarforth brings his trademark scowls of agony to some icy Scandinavian black metal, that also finds Tor-Helge Skei on guitar. The result is something that uses atmosphere as a lubricant to dominate you with its commanding charge. For Kvarforth this is a rather straight forward approach to song writing when compared to the depressive sounds of Shining. Over the years Shining has refined their sound into at times something with a more dynamic rock n roll swagger than what is thought of as black metal so this will appeal to fans of their earlier and heavier work.
The raw energy that possesses the second song which can be roughly translated as "That Which Once Was". I think the keyboards really add a great deal to the song and remind you of the classic days of European Black Metal. Normally I like black metal to be a dark nuanced beast of sonic depth, where this has a slightly rawer edge to it, but I think it works well for what they are doing here. It is not all just blast beast and tremolo picked guitars though there is plenty of both. The songs are book ended with ambiance, which might be trimmed slightly to streamline the song lengths if you were edited this like a book. Does their ten-and-a-half-minute epic need the minute long lead in? It is explosive when it does kick in and at times runs the risk of playing it almost too safe when comparing it to the status quo for black metal. Though the more atmospheric passage employs a really cool melodic element halfway into the song, which is one of the album's high points.
The second half of the album keeps a similar balance of old school second wave rough edged throttling that is tempered with a majestic sense of atmosphere. Not as personal in its anguish as the more introspective loathing that Shining summoned. Manes is also a more experimental act when it comes to black metal, so things fall more along those lines, by the book in that it is paying homage to an era or tradition. There is a darker more deliberate menace to the last song that I prefer over them just raging like the fire of a burning church, not that I have anything against churches burning as that is something I support. I will give this one a 9. it drops the 13th of this month.
