UMUR
"How the World Came to an End" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Norwegian experimental rock/metal act Manes. The album was released through Candlelight Records in May 2007. Manes started their career as a fully fledged black metal act and recorded three demos ("Maanens Natt (1993)", "Ned I Stillheten (1994)" and "Til Kongens Grav De Døde Vandrer (1995)") and one full-length studio album called "Under ein Blodraud Maane (1999)" in that style. Manes second full-length studio album "Vilosophe (2003)" was an entirely different beast though. Gone was the black metal style and in came a dark electronic/progressive rock/ metal style that I´m personally very fond of. An extremely well-crafted and intriguing album that one.
The music style on "How the World Came to an End" takes Manes newfound electronic rock/metal music in an even more electronic/ambient direction and the metal elements are almost gone from the music now. The vocals are predominantly in ordinary clean singing style but as a new thing in Manes musical universe there´s rap style vocals on the album too. These are performed in both French and in English. The concept is still pretty dark which should be no surprise given the title of the album. The production is excellent. Layers upon layers of sounds, vocals and synths. The closest reference are bands like OSI (the most ambient and mellow tracks) and especially Chroma Key but a band like Ulver also comes to mind.
"How the World Came to an End" is not really what I expected from Manes after the excellent "Vilosophe (2003)" but it is an intriguing album in it´s own right. I´m just not as thrilled about this album as I was about "Vilosophe (2003)". First of all the metal elements which were the link to their past are almost completely gone and then there´s the rap vocals which I have a hard time appreciating. The rap vocals fortunately only appear on occasion though and don´t ruin my listening experience completely. So upon conclusion I find "How the World Came to an End" to be an interesting album, but there are elements I could have done without. If you can appreciate the occasional rap type vocals and the general lack of metal riffs, you might enjoy this more than I do. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved though. No matter what I think about it, "How the World Came to an End" is still a quality release.