| Artist |
| Mantus |
| Title |
| Zeichen |
| Format/Cat |
| CD TRI 416 CD |
| Label |
| Trisol |
| Style |
| Symphonic Metal |
| Date of review |
| 20th December 2011 |
| Reviewer |
| Carl Jenkinson |
| Rating |
| 6.5/10 |
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Here's another dose of symphonic metal courtesy of Martin & Tina &, once again, it really is amazing that two people can make such a full-sounding epic album. It's probably safe to say that, if you enjoyed their previous offering Demut, or indeed most of the other symphonic metal bands, then you should get on with this new one just fine as, throughout, they pretty much stick to the tried & tested template that such bands do, mixing symphonic strings, piano & heavy metal guitars underpinned by some appropriately ponderous (but complimentary) percussion. It all sounds very pompous but enjoyable....up to a point, as it does get a bit samey by the time it finishes. That's not to say there aren't a number of highlights to be found here as 'Verbrannte Erde' scales some impressive dynamic heights while, contrastingly, 'Zwischenwelt' sets a nicely reflective mood, a mood that is taken many steps further by 'Die Stille Des Oceans' as, starting almost like a piece of chamber music with Martin's voice working well on the mood so created, it then establishes itself as a fine piece of moving, emotive metal while the duration of over 6 minutes means it has the chance to really make the most of the established mood & the riffs are consistently impressive, expanding still further on the musical possiblities. Likewise 'Staub' starts out as a genuinely beautiful piece of music, classical & a bit medieval with tuneful German lyrics, it's a lovely piece of music & while the heavy guitars that come in latterly are complimentary enough it would have been nice had this been left to its initial premise, it would have stood out much more, as would 'Traumerei' had the nicely atmospheric piano not suffered a similar fate, a fate that 'Echo' does avoid more successfully, as, while it again builds from its quiet beginnings with Tina's operatic vocals adding nicely to the sumptuous feel with the increasing percussion seemingly acting as a portent to what is to come, the choirs do soften the blow somewhat, making for a genuinely spine-tingling climax, leaving 'Der Schrei Des Schmetterlings' to up the medieval ante by means of some harpsichord-style riffs & another long track, 'Ein Anderer Mensch' to close the album in their established style.
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