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Contributing to Norway's growing reputation as the land of musical wackiness, ex-black metallers Manes go trip-hopping further down the road they embarked upon with Vilosophe (2003), which was followed by their limited-edition EP [view] (2006). Although Manes' mingling of rock, metal, jazz and electronica is close enough to Ulver to appeal to some of the same listeners, How The World Came to an End is neither as well-conceived nor as aurally fascinating as any of the latter's work. The one stand-out element of the album is its skillful mixing of synthetic and acoustic percussion, but instead of focusing on that, Manes choose to heavily emphasize vocals, where little of interest and zero pleasure are to be found. Although sometimes innocuous, the whispering, speech, rapping, chanting and singing (supplied primarily by guests and extensions of the Manes "collective") more often range from weak to willfully irritating, and are largely dopey as opposed to weird. Most annoying is the main male singer, Asgeir Hatlen, who bears a vague similarity to Jonas Renkse (the only legitimate justification for comparisons that have been made between Manes and Katatonia), but whose high, halting voice is so feeble that he makes Jonas sound overwhelmingly powerful and assertive. When he repeatedly bleats what sounds like "I need to be heard" in "My Journal of the Plague Years (Fuckmensch Warmensch)," one longs to tell him he most assuredly does not. Or maybe he's saying "I need to be hurt." In that case, I won't disagree.
Those gifted with tunnel hearing might be able to ignore the vocal pestilence and zone in on the more accomplished facets of How The World Came to an End, but that's hardly the kind of challenge one looks for in avant-garde music. There are less obnoxious ways to convey despair, fear, or whatever it is Manes are trying to get across on this album. Hopefully, next time they'll expand and enhance the instrumental parts of their songs, and summon enough discrimination to avoid unnecessarily sacrificing aesthetics for atmosphere or whimsy.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Deeprooted |
| 2. Come To Pass |
| 3. I Watch You Fall |
| 4. A Cancer in our Midst (Plague One) |
| 5. Last Lights |
| 6. Nobody Wants the Truth |
| 7. My Journal of the Plague Years (Fuckmensch Warmensch) |
| 8. The Cure-All |
| 9. Transmigrant |
| 10. Son of Night, Brother of Sleep |
: 44:41
| Buy other Manes albums |
