Mantar – Death By Burning Review

Originally written by Dean Brown.

It has been established by the likes of 5ive, Death From Above 1979, Jucifer, and the almighty Darkthrone that there’s no novelty to be found in heavy bands comprised of two musicians. Indeed, it’s probably the ideal set-up in that you have someone to bounce ideas off of and to veto the stupid decisions that can slip through if you are going solo. And with only two cooks stirring the broth it cuts out the push-and-pull settlements that can weaken the music of bands with numerous songwriters tossing ideas into the mix. Moreover, there are few things in this world (besides maybe gorging on a fistful of meth or freebasing a pot of black coffee) that will get your heart thumping as fast as when you hear two musicians entirely in tune with each others’ internal rhythms, their electric chemistry visibly sizzling away. (Think the pottery scene in the film Ghost.) So, if you fancy getting the adrenaline pumping to heart-caving levels without partaking in the organ-killers mentioned above, you need to hear Svart Records’ debutant duo Mantar.

With their first full-length, Death By Burning, the German/Turkish pairing of guitarist Hanno and drummer Erinc have one hell of an incendiary debut on their hands. Mantar take the Melvins’ mighty sludge grooves, add some Southern rawk jives, kick in some of noise-rock’s rhythmic brutality, and filter it all through a hardcore punk grinder for maximum palpitation-inducing trauma. Hanno handles vocals as well as guitars, and his acerbic howl—think Nocturno Culto raised on Despise You and Tragedy—is the final filthy weapon rounding out the band’s triumvirate of bass-less bludgeon. However, unlike some of the bands eschewing four-strings, Mantar’s low-end isn’t AWOL. Instead, its heft is transferred through to Hanno’s guitar tone which holds a subterranean squall than makes his anvil-heavy riffs sound like they’re encased in concrete yet still allows for an effluence of melody to seep out before it all sets in place.

“Spit” gives you an immediate insight into what makes this duo so bloody terrific. This opener takes you back to the Melvins’ days with Atlantic Records: signature Dale Crover-style beats pound in and out of the sludge riffs that loom like King Buzzo’s still-impressive fuzz-fro. There is also a subtle ingenuity in the way that Mantar stretch the tempo chain to snapping point, give some slack, tighten sharply, and so on without being repetitive or conventional. This instinctive approach to songwriting continues throughout the following nine songs, with “The Huntsmen,” in particular, showing comparable give-and-take in its transitions between full-on fury and down-and-dirty.

As hinted at above, there is a lot more going on with this duo than mere Melvins-worship. And while there are some notable points of reference—for instance, “Cult Witness” has a galloping rush reminiscent of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” and the shit-kickin’ swagger of “Astral Kannibal” has plenty of Deliverance-era Corrosion of Conformity to its riffs—the brazen dynamism of the band’s ballsy music makes drawing a embarrassment of specific comparisons a needless undertaking. Furthermore, there are no bells and whistles to be found in Mantar’s sound except for the spoken-word samples that dictate (and flatter) the lock-step grooves of “The Berserkers Path.” It’s just one drummer with serious rhythmic drive (“Swinging the Eclipse”) and one guitarist skilled at filling the role of three musicians with his dominant riffing (see: the Homme-does-Celtic Frost of “The Stoning” and the 5ive-worthy “March of the Crows”), not to mention his fondness for village-razing vocal hooks.

It can be difficult to produce memorable screamed vocal hooks without compromising aggression, but Hanno overcomes this possible pitfall with ease. During “Astral Kannibal,” Kanno screams the title with gusto, which on paper doesn’t sound like anything other than typical metal twaddle. But when you hear how he delivers it on record while simultaneously dropping an outrageous groove-driven riff, the impact of the line is incredible. There are a number of moments like this during Death By Burning, whereby a chant-able vocal howl is coupled with a swift drop, or increase, in tempo—the highlight being “White Nights” when slow, rumbling doom riffs collapse into complete mayhem—and you know these particular moments will decimate an unsuspecting crowd if the band can pull them off with the same conviction in a live setting.

This April, Mantar are scheduled to play the Mecca that is Roadburn, and as we have seen with unknown artists in the past, the Dutch festival can make a band’s name if they nail it on the day. Shockingly, Mantar have very little experience playing live, but it’s clear that songs like “Spit,” “Astral Kannibal,” and “White Nights” were made to turn a beer-stained dive into a mound of rubble. It will be interesting to see how this duo fare at Roadburn because if their live show is anything like what they’ve managed to pull off in the studio for their exciting first full-length, Mantar may be the standout debut of the festival on top of being a standout debut artist of 2014.

Posted by Old Guard

The retired elite of LastRites/MetalReview.

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