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Manticore > The Children After War > Reviews
Manticore - The Children After War

Another forgotten classic. - 90%

Corimngul, November 6th, 2006

Manticore from Düsseldorf, Germany, released one EP called ‘The Children After War’ in 1990, which is nothing but another forgotten jewel hidden among tons of less brightly shining metal and hardrock waste heaps.

Manticore had a very laidback approach to their music, and is quite unique to combine it so successfully with metal – and not ending up with a mix of metal and non-metal tracks. Most of Manticore’s songs are played quite slowly, relying more on very effective, vibrant riffs and an almost perfected sense of melody than traditional hooks and other tricks from the book. They don’t go for neckbreak speed, and it’s far from heavy enough to induce similar symptoms through other methods.

The vocalist, Oliver Hellwig, sounds a bit like a mix of early Warrior’s Parramore McCarty and Drysill’s and the Norwegian band Artch’s Erikur Hauksson, two very competent vocalists with unique voices. The music does as well remind a bit of early Warrior (especially in ‘Kingdom in Danger’) and Artch’s calmest moments. Another band that comes to mind is Warlord, and not just for the guitar tone in the beginning of the title track, but because both bands are very melodic, epic; possessing the gifts of quality and uniqueness.

Wild Toys is the odd one out, it’s more of a party rocker than a calm exhibition of musical craftsmanship, thus being the emotionally least intense of the songs. But being the least good song on an album where’s the average quality reaches above the stratosphere doesn’t mean that much.

This is rare, no doubt about it, but well worth looking for.