Manes are a band from Norway that has had music reviewed before in the zine and over the years have moved away from the black metal style of earlier releases and has gone for more of a mixture of experimental, electronic, alternative rock, gothic and metal and this is a review of their 2020 single "Young Skeleton" which will be released in April by Aftermath Music.
Clean playing starts off the single along with a very powerful sounding bass guitar a few seconds later. Slide guitars can also be heard briefly while the vocals are mostly done in a clean style along with the music also having its experimental moments and the riffs also add in a decent amount of melody.
The sounds of dogs barking can also be heard briefly while spoken word parts are also added onto the second track. Operatic female vocals are also used on the second song adding in a touch of goth rock as well as some blackened whispers also being added into the background and the riffs also show an influence of metal.
On this recording Manes sounds nothing like their earlier black metal material going for more of a mixture of experimental, electronic, goth, alternative rock and metal. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover abstract, decay and solitude themes.
In my opinion this is a decent recording from Manes and while some black metal fans might not like this style, I can see this appealing to fans of experimental, alternative rock and avant garde emtal. RECOMMENDED TRACK "Mouth Of The Volcano". 7 out of 10.
.jpg)
