MANAHAN - Commence CD Review

ARTIST: Manahan
TITLE: Commence
YEAR: 2010
LABEL: Indie
REVIEWED BY: Trystan MacDonald

Holy Shit! I know I should probably sound more professional when it comes to reviews, but Holy Shit! For a ten dollar purchase, Commence is a thousand pounds of heavy fucking metal.

The album pulls you in and just smacks you across the face with the opening track, Blinded Life. At which point your head is just thrashing all over the place. That’s what I want from a thrash band! I want anger in the vocals, and I want guitars and drums that reflect the explosive energy of the band. The timing of the instruments is top notch, with the drums and/or guitar exploding at the appropriate times, causing one, such as myself, to mosh in my single bedroom.

The band sounds a lot like Black Label Society, which isn’t a bad thing. It’s very hard to find, especially in the local metal scene, an album that is just ‘heavy’ metal. There is a good variety of sound, without losing any element of brutality. Ultimately, my personal favourite song is ‘Narcotic’, it contains the perfect combination of heavy instruments, and a chorus that is too fucking catchy for its own good.

The ultimate beauty of the album comes from the simplicity of the album. Not to say that the instrumentals are not complex, but the atmosphere of the music is the basic core of all metal. It doesn’t push a message in your face, it doesn’t try to be pretentious or over the top. Commence, is a quality album, reflecting a very talented three piece band. If you’re pissed off at the world, listen to Commence. If you just need to relax and have a beer, listen to Commence. If you want to bang your head, or mosh with your buddies, listen to Commence.

With the world of metal constantly dividing over genres, it’s nice to find an album that unites the spirit of heavy metal.

TRACKLISTING:

01. Blinded Life
02. No Time
03. Narcotic
04. Brace
05. The Nerve Within
06. The Scream
07. Take A Look At Me
08. Remedy
09. The Last Time
10. Bitter Inhale
11. The End