ALBUM REVIEW: The Sinking – Manifest
By the time you hit album five, you have free reign of what you can do. The first album is always daunting because this is what people are going to hear from you. The second album is also daunting because it not only has to live up to your first, but also make sure that it can stand on its own. From album three onwards, you can experiment as much as you want. However, there is something special about hitting your fifth album. For MANIFEST, album five has been a long time coming. The Norway band released their debut album Half Past Violence in 2005 and kept carting them out until their most recent effort …And For This We Should Be Damned? was released back in 2015.
The seven-year gap between that record and their new album The Sinking has thankfully served the band well. From the opening song The Origins (Of Beebee & BB), it is clear that the band are in top form. MANIFEST‘s sound is hard to pin down; the easiest way to describe them is that they lie in a strange no man’s land between rock and metal. However, even this is not selling them correctly. The best example of this is in Jobkill, which starts off with a wonderful death metal growl before switching up the tempo and becoming a fast-paced rock song. Whilst this might sound like a head scratcher, it works. It shows that MANIFEST clearly do not care about genres, and are instead just creating music for the joy of it.
In fact, this album has something for everyone. If you’re into death metal, then songs such as the aforementioned opener and Jobkill should have you covered. However, this also raises an issue about the album. Whilst it is commendable to mix and match genres, it does mean that there won’t be any particular song that will appeal to a fan of just one certain genre of music. On the other hand, the album is so well-produced that it doesn’t matter what genre of music you like. The production is fantastic. It creates a high energy album that unites the best in rock and metal genres. Even in the slightly slower songs such as Mistakes, the album’s overall pacing does not slow down.
The most interesting songs on the album are The Sinking Parts 1 and 2. The two songs are right next to each other on the album tracklist, and are very unique. Part 1 is a slow song which takes its time. However, this is reminiscent of any great longer song on an album from the 70s or 80s . On the other hand, somewhat predictably, Part 2 is faster paced. Whilst this is a clichéd way of presenting a Part 1 and Part 2 song, it is clear that the band are having the time of their lives. Interestingly, the last song on the album, Better Ideas / Worse Solutions is an average rock song. Whilst it is a good song, it doesn’t quite hit the right notes, and sounds a little weaker compared to the other songs on the album. This is a shame because up until now the band have been giving it their all. Even though it ends in a fast-paced explosion of noise, it feels too little too late.
In conclusion, The Sinking is a fun album to listen to. Whilst it is not for everyone because of the mashed-up genres, for the most part, it has something for everyone. It might fall a little at the last hurdle, but MANIFEST are clearly having a riot of a time, and do not care at all about expectations. The pacing of the album is great, and the production is fantastic, creating a listenable experience that hits almost all the right notes.
Rating: 7/10
The Sinking is out now via ViciSolum Productions.
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