Paraded as being “as subtle as a horny bull and equally gentle”, “The Sinking” is this groove metal band’s fifth album. They’ve done their time, having been in existence since 1999, releasing albums from 2005, and playing live at Wacken as well as supporting some big names in the metal world. The band comprises two former members of fellow Norwegian stalwarts Atrox and Griffin.
There’s nothing faintly groovy about the opening song of “The Origins (of BeeBee / BB)”. Old school thrash sandwiching a progressive section, all round eccentric, vocals bordering on insanity and so reminiscent of Atrox in this respect – it’s challenging, not that the band claim anything else. This is fine but I was rather hoping for something I could hang on to. It does however seem that Manifest take a style and then proceed to pull it in all directions. This is their way. “Upriver” is interesting in that it features a parade of colourful sounds. With it come tribal drumming and let’s call them expressive vocals. The good thing is that it’s atmospheric in the sense of being in a dark forest surrounded by hidden creepy crawlies and hidden dangers. Madness. Frantic thrash n roll is then the order of the day. Such is “Jobkill”. In common with it is “Final Curtain Fall”, another combination of harshness and adrenaline rush. It’s old school in its metal style but Manifest aren’t going to stick to old school styles, placing their stamp with the rough vocals and instrumental adornments. It didn’t come as complete surprise when Manifest turn to a southern style bluesy direction on “Mistakes”. The guitar line is hypnotic. Now this does have groove. The vocalist raps at high speed. Screams can be heard in the background. Thrash turns to distortion. No-one claimed this would be normal.
“Infant Rage” defies description really but it is music of an alternative kind. Just when I thought it was going to explode, it stops. We’ve already established that conventions have been thrown out of the window, and true to form there’s a bonus track in the middle of the album. I can’t deny the groove of “L.G.A.D.” but it’s not terribly exciting. It’s probably one for listening to after a few whiskies, when you might want to listen to a decent rock track that’s not too heavy. Well, some might. The title song comes in two parts. The first part is spooky and melancholic, providing a new twist. “We plucked the wings off a butterfly, stand back to watch as it tries to fly” must count as one of more unusual lyrics, but ultimately if I read it right “The Sinking Part 1” is about human sadness. The song is full of feeling and darkness. So onto part 2, the spoken introduction is poetic, sinister and spine-chilling. This gives way to an old school and raw thrash rock riff with the customary raucous vocals. Then it’s onto another bonus track, the 8 minute “The Meeting”. Oddly like the previous bonus track it’s quite downtrodden, desultory and rock-gothic in style. It’s like a heavy meal, the opposite of “Better Ideas / Worse Solutions”, the raw and hardcore-punkish closing song.
There’s lots of interest here. I quickly got used to the vocals, and after that it was a question of assimilating in my head all the musical content. It’s not the easiest of albums, and would be better without the bonus tracks in my opinion, but “The Sinking” has decent songs and creatively plenty of intrigue.
(7/10 Andrew Doherty)
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