Vilosophe

I’ve unfortunately not yet heard more than a few songs from Manes’ earlier work, which was an apparently masterpiece of BM. As you may have guessed, Manes had a slight change of heart with this album – they turned from atmospheric BM to something that can truly be said to defy category. Of course this will upset some fans, and has caused the typical backlash of negative reviews across the fanbase, but to miss out on this album would be a real loss.

Manes’ sound consists of a wide range of influences from obviously metal, to trip-hop, to jazz, to perhaps even rock. It’s emotionally charged, ethereal and at times chaotic.
They have cascades of drum layers, guitar riffs, electronic sounds, soaring emotional clean vocals, samples, progression, repetition and power.
These sounds never sound at odds, expertly interwoven to create one magnificently manic, glorious and cohesive whole. The lyrics are often ambiguous, occasionally lost to the music, but lines picked out can be dissected to your hearts content; brimming with hidden meanings, intelligence and subtleties.

The album shines with tracks like ‘Terminus a Quo/Terminus Ad Quem’ (translated basically: A starting and ending point in time, respectively). It starts with a simple stripped back riff, a few saxophone notes to accompany it, with Cernunus’ melancholic dreamy vocals, before the drums kick in, the guitars kick and the song explodes into full force with an emotional intensity few bands ever achieve in their career.

The album is diverse and interesting, with plenty of shifts in tempo, atmosphere and sound. What starts as an ethereal passage can transform into a true thing of intense beauty when Manes get down to layering; some more intense drumming there, some creative riffage here, a sprinkling of keyboard ambience.
This is what Manes do best, and it’s what makes this album stand out as a classic of avant-garde. I’ve had this album for over two years now, I’ve played it over and over, and I’m still uncovering layers that had previously remained hidden. It unfolds and grows with time. This is a dense, emotionally super-charged and unique album, what more could you ask from an album?