Ah, hipster black metal from Minnesota. That’s what first came to mind when reading about Manetheren. Comprised of two guys, this post-black-whatever project has now released four albums, the newest one being Time, the subject of this review of course. It’s pretty well crafted and laden with emotion, but I find myself feeling icky when some of its more “hip” moments break through.
A lengthy bastard, Time is 74 minutes of mostly atmospheric, gloomy and retrospective black metal meets post-rock. Just six tracks span this time frame, so you can imagine the individual length of each. The promo sheet describes Time as “a seamlessly-flowing tapestry of musical majesty that is at once masterfully-conceived, spontaneous and ageless.” I’m inclined to disagree a tad. While all flows together well, there is definitely a modern flair to this album, which can’t be helped thanks to its post-rock orientation. And as far as spontaneity, well…long sections of repetitive, depressive riffs don’t exactly scream “Look at how wild and spontaneous we are!”
Opening track “I” (Manetheren can’t be bothered with song titles) starts off alright enough, with a moody and building atmospheric section, but the serenity is quickly trampled with harsh riffs and…hardcore vocals? It’s hard to imagine why this would be considered a good idea in a forested section of bleak black metal, but there they are. And there they remain for the, uh, remainder of the track, which is otherwise unmarred. Some choice riffing and other cool elements emanate from this track, but the vocals seem to throw it all off. In contrast, the vocals heard on “II” fit much more smoothly, and generally accentuate the track.
“III” is the standout tune from the album, in this reviewer’s opinion, blanketed in an atmospheric haze, conjuring at times visions of Hypocrisy’s weirder, more cryptic stuff. Even with the clean vocal chorus section, which isn’t perhaps as dramatic as it hopes to be, and the small clean rock interlude in its centre “III” is good, ethereal and black metally. Creepy dissonance and a dream-like quality during the second half of the song round it out in good fashion. And while I could continue to describe the rest of the album in track-by-track manner, I don’t want you to end up with vertigo. Hopefully you get the idea of what is going on here.
At times hypnotic and maybe droning, at others eerie and subdued, the tracks of Time at least fit together pleasantly (as pleasant as Manetheren can be considered). Going for a foggy walk through the woods? Plant Manetheren in your ear. While I’m not exactly a fan of the post-rock elements that are heard throughout Time, they are generally overshadowed by the atmospheric (how many times can this be used in one review?) black metal flowing through and around everything. Sorry, Manetheren, didn’t mean to pick on you. This isn’t a bad album, just not something for the BM purists.
(5.5/10 Jodi Michael)
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