For Rats and Plague

I guess back in '06 it would have been cool to be in one of these Blasphemy/Beherit/Archgoat worship bands, but now with fifty Proclamation records in every Walmart it seems almost delightfully quaint. To be perfectly fair, Manticore doesn't do it badly; I mean, shit, they can play their instruments pretty well and the riffs tend to at least be solid, but at the same time the whole sound espoused by bands like this has started to grate on me in recent years.

I appreciate that Manticore's take on the whole idea of this style is a bit more varied than most. Rather than just sticking to offtime blasts to prove how raw they are, 'For Rats And Plague' has a definite sense of pacing and dynamics to it. The base is the same as most: raw, sort of triumphant black metal with edges of death and thrash to round things out, but it seems that Manticore can actually write a song rather than just repeat the tropes of the style endlessly for a group of people who beat off to the idea of visiting Ross Bay.

The somewhat cloudy, Niden Div. 187-style production works well for the riffs here, which are smothered, over-fast tremolo numbers that peel through a very bassy, churning guitar tone. It might be a bit inordinately low- get the vocals snarling over the top of a blast beat and it's pretty difficult to pick out some of the finer melodic touches. They are there, surprisingly enough: some tracks have an almost staggering array of riffs, and the band is polite enough to not endlessly repeat themselves. While I might not be overly enthused about the nature of the style itself, I can at least admit that this is a pretty capable demonstration of it.

Of course, about fifteen minutes into the album you've basically heard everything that's going to be heard and you're left checking your watch for the rest of the running time, but still, I think that's a personal issue more than one with the album. I figure this is a no-brainer for the Nuclear War Now types out there, and while I prefer some other similar bands like Deception to this one, Manticore's entry in the style is pretty admirable and won't disappoint anyone.

A casual listen of Of Rats and Plague leads to an immediate labeling of it as raw black metal, and only that. However, a more experienced ear will immediately pick up on the other facets of Manticore's sound. Like most USBM, Manticore doesn't stick to the orthodox tenets of black metal, choosing instead to incorporate elements of other genres within their sound. In their case, both death and thrash metal influences are discernable, dredged up out of the sonic massacre of raw production and blackened riffs.

Though predominantly a raspy croak, Manticore's vocals veer between death metal roars, black metal yowls, and even the odd Celtic Frost grunt, utilizing each to spew forth some of the most violently Satanic lyrics this side of the Atlantic. Songs like, "Liturgical Desecration" and "Sodomy in the Womb of Paradise" let you know exactly which side of the ideological fence Manticore stand on – and it's definitely not the same one as Stryper. The U.S. black metal hordes have a unique sound that immediately separates them from their European brethren; a lot of it stems from their willingness to mix in different genres to diversify their sound. Manticore's filthy groove is propelled by fast thrashy riffs and blastbeats that hearken back to the old days of Venom and Possessed at times, and recall contemporaries like Kult ov Azazel and Bloodstorm. It's a challenging listen due to the production quality (in that respect, at least, Manticore play by the rules - Of Rats and Plague sounds like it was recorded in a tomb) but a rewarding one as well. This one comes highly recommended for fans of the USBM sound, and is sure to please even the most frostbitten kvltster, if they deign to give it a chance.