ViciSolum Productions

August 26th 2022

Groove Metal

Line Up:

Stian Lekres – Vocals

Ole Marius Larmerud – Guitar

Johnny Wangberg – Bass

Alessandro Elide – Drums

Tracklist:

1 – The Origins (Of Beebee/BB)

2 – Upriver

3 – Jobkill

4 – Final Curtain Fall

5 – Mistakes

6 – Infant Rage

7 – L.G.A.D (Bonus Track)

8 – The Sinking Pt.1

9 – The Sinking Pt.2

10 – The Meeting (Bonus Track

11 – Better Ideas/Worse Solutions

Manifest was formed in 2000 in Trondheim, Norway and this is their fifth full album. They’ve also released several EPs and Demo’s. They describe this album as ‘concrete’ and explain that it was labouring at first but once they got it all just poured out of them and they feel that the results are solid. I cannot disagree.

Opener ‘The Origins (Of Beebee/BB)’ has a gradual start then blasts into an aggressive groover with an understated breakdown then it goes full on hardcore ‘Upriver’ gets grooving again with singer Stian Lekres going from death to clean then ‘Jobkill’ just pummels at a rate of knots plus some solid axe work from Larmerud. Wangberg’s bass introduces ‘Final Curtain Call’ before

Larmerud joins in on the riff and we get another Pantera-like groover. ‘Mistakes’ brings it down a bit on a stoner-like ride before the chirpy organ intro of ‘Infant Rage’ is taken over by a brutal assault on your ears. ‘L.G.A.D’ is a bonus track halfway through the record – not sure why – but it’s a bit more Metal than everything else and it’s a superb grinder with a masculine vocal and an even more masculine groove. ‘The Sinking Pt.1’ is a creep-fest with a scary doomy vocal that goes into ‘The Sinking Pt.2’ which has a spoken word for the first 90 seconds before another biting metal monster rears up and batters you into submission. ‘The Meeting’ is another bonus (before the final cut?) and goes into the alt-metal territory. Album closer ‘Better Ideas/Worse Solutions’ brings a righteous dose of punk to end on an energetic high note.

Wanna jump around? Wanna bang your head? Wanna get a pit going? Get This going and you’ll be able to do it all at once. Great energy and great sounds equal a great time.