DARKNESS WITH TALES TO TELL

"Darkness With Tales to Tell" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Danish power metal act Manticora. The album was released through Scarlet Records in May 2001. It´s the successor to "Roots of Eternity" from 1999 and features the exact same sextet lineup who recorded the debut album.

Stylistically the material on "Darkness With Tales to Tell" are also a continuation of the power metal of "Roots of Eternity" (1999). It´s all just more well written, more memorable, and even more well performed. A step up from the debut album in all departments. The music style is a combination of heavier US power (sometimes even thrashy) elements, neo-classicial influenced Euro power metal elements, and a touch of progressive metal. Manticora are an incredibly well playing unit and all involved are skilled performers. Lead vocalist Lars Larsen has a voice and singing style that are probably aquired tastes though, and that part of the music will be a deal breaker for some. He is a skilled performer with a relatively unique singing style, but sometimes it feels like he sings in the same range too much and that his melody lines resemble each other on the different songs. The latter of course helps once you listen to the album more, but the former continues to be a slight issue. He is not a rough sounding US power metal vocalist, and he is not a high pitched melodic sounding Euro power metal vocalist either. Instead his singing style is a desperate higher than mid-range vocal style, which is actually rather unique.

The instrumental part of the music is centered around the guitar work of Kristian Larsen and Flemming Shultz, who deliver great hard edged riffs, loads of harmonies, and blistering melodic guitar solos. The rhythm section deliver a powerful, relatively varied, and pounding rhythmic assault, while keyboard player Jeppe Eg Jensen adds both backing, leads, and harmonies to the music. "Darkness With Tales to Tell" also features a powerful, clear sounding, and detailed production, which helps the material shine. Upon conclusion it´s a high quality sophomore album by Manticora, cementing their core musical style and the high quality of their songwriting and performances. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)