MANTICORA - 8 Deadly Sins
January 6, 2005, 19 years ago
(Nightmare)
The Danish equivalent of Blind Guardian is back with eight new Tommy Hansen-produced tunes. That would be the pre-orchestral-obsessed Guardian, for those keeping track at home, and while the latest offers more double-tracking and backing vocals than Hyperion, it slots nicely before the German kings' Middle Earth platter. Lars Larsen's voice bears an uncanny resemblance to Herr Kursch and the riffing power thrash is the territory the Blind ones abandoned around the start of this millennium. Be it the mid-tempo 'King Of The Absurd', the multiple-voiced 'Creator Of Failure' or speedier numbers like 'Playing God' and the closing 'Help Me Like No One Can', the Teutonic influences is undeniable and thoroughly enjoyable, lone exception being the harpsichord-begun, sludgy ballad 'Fall From Grace'.
