Formed in 2001, the Gothenburg-based band MANIMAL debuted with The Darkest Room and proved to the world there are still good bands in Sweden and if you love and have faith in what you do, you will be rewarded. Singer Samuel Nyman teamed up together with the Mentzer brothers (Richard - drums and Peter - bass) and guitar player Henrik Stenroos completes the quartet.
Sometimes having no expectations from a band surprises you in a very good way. High pitched vocals is what you first hear when you press play and Shadows kicks in with a great guitar riff and drum lick. The song is sort of an intro of what is to follow. Melodies, harmonies, power, speed and catchy tunes are all about this album. From time to time I can hear some progressive elements as well, which adds some flavor to their sound.
Hard to tell exactly what metal genre they belong into since they mix and match heavy, power, progressive and classic metal with melodies and high pitched vocals. It makes no difference though, as it is well played and arranged. My personal favorites are The Darkest Room, I Am, Ordinary Man, Human Nature and Spinegrinder although I enjoy listening to the album in whole. As far as I know the album was produced by the band and recorded at Music a Matic Studios in Gothenburg. Tobias Lindell is responsible for the mixing and having in mind there was no label support at the time, these guys did a great job with their sound.
This is definitely one the best melodic metal albums Sweden has to offer in the last years and for sure a favorite for many out there. It's too bad the band had to wait until 2009 before they get a record deal and release their music to the masses. The Darkest Room entered the official Swedish charts at #36, which is quite impressive if you ask me. Here we have nine catchy songs that will please fans of melodic metal with no doubts and also attract music lovers in general.
The release date is due to June 19th for Europe and August 25th for the US through AFM Records, although the album has been already released in Sweden by the band (having no record label at the time).
Good job MANIMAL!