The Metal Crypt on Facebook  The Metal Crypt's YouTube Channel
Review: Manigance - Récidive
Manigance
www.myspace.com/manigance
Récidive

Label: XIIIBis Records
Year released: 2011
Duration: 65:25
Tracks: 15
Genre: Progressive Power Metal

Rating:
3.75/5


Review online: September 9, 2011
Reviewed by: Bruce Dragonchaser
Readers' Rating
How do you rate this release?

Rated 3.67/5 (73.33%) (3 Votes)
Review

Back in 2004 Manigance released a damn near essential record named D'un Autre Sang, an excellent display of everything good in the Prog-Power movement. Trouble was, they sung it all in French, therefore cutting a great deal of their potential audience out of the equation. I loved the French vocals because they were performed with such conviction and power; you couldn't help but hum along (even if you sounded like a pretentious twat), and with their latest release, Récidive, Manigance have done the same thing, which again will limit the appeal of this extraordinary outfit.

As I said before, Manigance shine in their concision of generic values: they combine all the best features of bands like Stratovarius, Helloween, Dream Theater, Red Wine, DGM, and even Circus Maximus. Crystalline keyboards, shredding yet melodic guitars, challenging time-changes, dark soundscapes, and beautiful, soaring vocals from the uber-talented Didier Delsaux, one of the most underrated frontmen in the business. I had high hopes for this one and it doesn't disappoint, though the album is denser and more progressive than what they've done before, darker in places, without the hooks that kept me going back for a taste of D'un Autre Sang. Manigance are growing into a fabulously original act, but with fifteen tracks and a run time of over an hour, the goodness displayed so early on outstays its welcome, despite the quality of the songs and production.

If you're a self-respecting Power Metaller and haven't heard D'un Autre Sang, that should be the first thing you do after reading this piece. Récidive is a grower, I'm sure, but for now their past work reigns supreme.

More about Manigance...
Review: Ange ou démon (reviewed by PowerMetal59)
Review: D'un autre sang (reviewed by PowerMetal59)
Click below for more reviews
Latest 0-9 A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Various Books/Zines 



The Metal Crypt - Crushing Posers Since 1999
Copyright  © 1999-2024, Michel Renaud / The Metal Crypt.  All Rights Reserved.