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7.0
- Band:
The Man-Eating Tree - Duration: 00:49:43
- Available from: 11/04/2025
- Label:
-
Noble Demon Records
Streaming not yet available
In this return of The Man-Eating Tree there are certainly the elements of the first controversial first-rate elements: first of all the very fact of recurring, after a decade and after an album not memorable as “In The Abscence of Light”, but we are still talking about first-rate musicians of the Finnish Gothic Metal scene, which can boast excellent findings received over the years.
Even the intention to return with the third different singer in three albums does not place in their favor, but the new arrived manne Ikonen, coming from Ghost Brigade, with a hot stamp very similar to that of Lazare dei dei Solefald, knows its own, and therefore an excellent choice is for the Oulu group.
Furthermore, insisting on a musical genre that has experienced its moments of glory now decades ago does not represent a note of merit, but we are in times of total revival and therefore from a certain point of view also on this the man-eating tree do not make a mistake.
The performance of the individual musicians during the arrangement and registration is absolutely not controversial: impeccable, as impeccable is also the sound in general, clear, crystalline, but not necessarily cold and aseptic.
The points of reference have not changed much compared to the previous albums, and we mainly talk about the groups of the Giro of the various musicians, past and present, who have succeeded each other in the staff: Sentenced, Poisonblack, Entwine; But also of much more Gothic Metal, Doom and Death North European Melodic Melodic: in the best moments The Mane-Eating Tree recall the melodic and progressive Death-doom of Amorphis and Green Carnation, on which it is sometimes possible to perceive the spectrum of Creeds-exceptional references that certainly make the ears go well to long-standing enthusiasts. Further similarities can also be found in the good recent exits of Dawn of Solace and Helevorn, but, by summarizing the manne Ikonen manne, brings the proposal of The Man-Eating Tree on very contiguous coordinates to the Ghost Brigade, which therefore are, to be, to the delight of the orphaned fans of the group, definitively dissolved in 2020, the most obvious reference.
The technical accuracy, the sleeping stylistic figure, very marked on the melancholy and soft atmospheres, the curriculum of the musicians involved can be more than enough to promote the album; What seems every now and then is a little more quality in writing, net of a certain degree of subjectivity which however implies a judgment of this type. Too harmless, the songs tend to slide away without leaving large traces, if not the constant mellifluous and melancholic atmosphere, which certainly characterizes the genre, but which relegates the compositional effort to a simple and discreet background musical background.
Where the Finnics try to deviate from the usual formulas, the result appears slightly not very fluid, due to the various parts a little unrelated to each other, but never unpredictable enough to truly amaze the listener and keep the attention high. Better when they totally rely on the classic and pure and simple hourly, such as on “Days in the Dark”, “All our Shadows” and “Ruins of Insanity”, where the candy fully convinces and chisher of the well -successful pieces.
Wanting to fish something else that elevates from the deck, it is also worth mentioning the two lens “to the sinking” and the latest “reflections” in which the taste for the evocative atmospheres of the Finns emerges clearly, and this seems to be their main strength.
The occasional use of the Growl voice, in itself well set and integrated into the sound, does not however give much to the compositions or is completely irrelevant or even out of place, but the alternation between the two singing styles remains a pillar of the genre, to which it is evidently difficult to give up.
The riffs are not always incisive, but it is very beautiful for example that of “Seer,” and in general the guitars of the founder member Janne Markus – also in the Poisonblack – and of the new Sakke Paavola have a sound spot on for the proposal and satisfying in the ear; Dry, essentially and rightly at the service of the songs the rhythmic section, made up of the bassist of the Mors suffered Mika 'June' Juttila and the drummer Aksu Handsu, ex Entwine. The vocal melodies appear every now and then really too simple and predictable, but in simplicity the secret of a good piece is sometimes laid.
Too little to raise the disc in the Olympus of excellence, but, beyond the critical points raised, this “Night Verses” remains a pleasant and engaging job, which can bring the revived The Man-Eating Tree back on track.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM