Manimal
Armageddon – AFM Records
You have to admire bands who give fans what they want and that’s exactly what Manimal do on their fourth album ‘Armageddon’. Wearing their musical hearts on their collective sleeve they aren’t concerned with breaking new ground, preferring to focus on melody and catchy hooks which, of course, is a good thing. From Samuel Nyman’s ear-piercing screams that bookend the album via squealing guitars and pounding drums ‘Armageddon’ is a foot-on-the-monitor, horns-held-high metal fest. This album chugs along at a constant pace and a touch of variety, a ballad or slower tune, wouldn’t go amiss but that’s not really their thing. Rich in 80’s and 90’s influences (think Accept and Primal Fear) Manimal take their quintessentially Swedish harmonies and incorporate elements of power and thrash to ensure things don’t become staid. However, we do get ‘Chains of Fury’, a hard-hitting number that could have come from any solo Dio album while ‘Master of Pain’ swings like a huge wrecking ball that powers us towards cataclysmic closer ‘The Inevitable End’. Sure, Manimal aren’t reinventing the wheel but if it’s not broke, why fix it?
Review by Peter Dennis