Artist: Manhattan Skyline
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Norrland crust/metal/prog act Moloken, a 2009 favorite, are touring Scandinavia later this month and one of the bands they're playing a string of dates with is Finnish act Radar. Generally speaking, I'm not too crazy about their style of post-metal, but the new EP they recently sent me has a pretty cool 3D cover and the included glasses allowed me to properly view Robyn's video for "Don't fucking tell me what to do", so that's gotta be worth something -- hence this post. It's kind of weird, in the space of a month of so I got a whole bunch of new music in a similar vein and, again -- while not being a huge fan of this stuff, was pleasantly surprised to find it all to be of above-average quality. I already covered Kausal who might just be the best of the lot, but Radar are pretty decent too despite one major piccadillo: I don't care if you want to sing cleanly or scream harshly, but please don't try to do both. 99% of the time it sucks and Radar are no exception. Individually, they do fine with each style... when performed together, it's way corny. That's why I'm posting a track with purely melodic vocals for fellow discerning listeners -- you get the heaviness and the glory and none of the distracting bullshit. RIYL Khoma!
Oh, and those Moloken tourdates:
09/15 - L'Orient, Linköping (SWE) w/This Gift is a Curse
09/16 - Sugar Bar, Stockholm (SWE) w/This Gift is a Curse
09/17 - Ungdomens Hus, Uppsala (SWE) w/This Gift is a Curse
09/18 - Ungdomens Hus, Oskarshamn (SWE) w/This Gift is a Curse
09/19 - tba, Karlskrona (SWE) w/This Gift is a Curse
09/23 - Nuclear Nightclub, Oulu (FIN) w/Radar
09/24 - Lutakko, Jyväskylä (FIN) w/Radar
09/25 - S-Osis, Turku (FIN) w/Radar
09/26 - Kuudes Linja, Helsinki (FIN) w/Radar
09/29 - tba (NOR) w/Manhattan Skyline
09/30 - tba (NOR) w/Manhattan Skyline
10/01 - Garage, Oslo (NOR) w/Manhattan Skyline
10/02 - Fru Lundgreen, Trondheim (NOR) w/Manhattan Skyline
Radar - Where others were honest (I'm a lie)
A group of Oslo-based artist expats (2 Australians, 1 Canadian) have put together something called the "Starving Artist Kokebok", or "cookbook" for the Norwegian-impaired, a book and CD package featuring artwork, stories and of course recipes from 37 fellow Oslo-based bands, artists and journalists. Also included is a 19-track CD:
01. Simon Says No! - Sleeping Heart
02. Death is Not Glamorous - Clear Lines
03. Lionheart Brothers - Bring it Down (Kokebok Edit)
04. Maribel - Soothe
05. Pica Pica - The Man with the Magic Hands
06. CCTV - We Belong (Radio Edit)
07. Einar Stray - Arrows
08. Pilemil - Ghost
09. Hiawata! - Valley Boys
10. Happy Dagger - 2012
11. Manhattan Skyline - The Below
12. Spirits of the Dead - White Lady Black Rave
13. Årabrot - The Minute
14. The Bee's Niece - Stolen Bike
15. Norma Sass - Japan
16. The Loch Ness Mouse feat. Stella Mwangi - New Graffiti (Single Edit)
17. Center of the Universe - Sing it Again
18. Rosix Noir - Binden Sie Meine Hnde (Remix)
19. The White Tiger Prepade - Powerful fast forward knowledge pushing scared inprinted gem stones levitating by seemingly apathic sound movement reactions
Other contributors include Benea Reach, Haust, Je Suis Animal, Lydia Laska, My Little Pony, Silver and lots more. There will be a release party on November 18 at Rubber Soul featuring an exhibition of the original artworks followed by a show at Revolver later in the evening. More info: http://starvingartistkokebok.blogspot.com/
Thus ends Fysisk Format's tremendous winning streak. Manhattan Skyline is the worst kind of ADD-inflicted math-metal. Riffs are pasted together and shoehorned into place with zero regard for composition or dynamics, making a 2-minute track an experiment in tedium. This kind of stuff wasn't good when Dillinger Escape Plan first did and it only got worse once the metalcore kids took the formula to the extreme. I'll concede that there might actually be some redeeming moments hidden here somewhere, but I sure as hell don't have the patience to seek them out among all the starts and stops, twists and turns. And no, tacking on a 15-minute sludge workout on the end of the album doesn't show range, it just proves they know how to ape another overdone style. No thanks.
Manhattan Skyline - White horse
Norwegian mathcore act Manhattan Skyline are streaming a few more tracks off their new album "Curses" at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/manhattanbitches
Said album comes out October 27 via Fysisk Format.
Norwegian mathcore act Manhattan Skyline has posted the tracklist and details for their new album "Curses", a title that seems very befitting: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=32340404&blogID=440166665
I mentioned Fysisk Format's signing of Manhattan Skyline yesterday and now it looks like they also have a new release from the excellent act Next Life on the way in late November: http://fysiskformat.tigernet.no/ (right-hand column, at the bottom)
Norwegian hardcore act Snöras is now streaming new material at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/snoras
The band's new album "Plague waters" will be released on CD and 2LP via Fysisk Format on September 9.
And speaking of Fysisk Format, the label has now signed math-metal act Manhattan Skyline and will be releasing their long-awaited debut on October 27. Samples: http://www.myspace.com/manhattanbitches
Norwegian math-metal act Manhattan Skyline are touring Europe with countrymatest Dominic:
04/11 - Paragrafen, Oslo (NOR)
04/12 - Elværket, Helsingør (NOR)
04/13 - Rote Flora, Hamburg (GER)
04/14 - Help!
04/15 - Baracke, Münster (GER)
04/16 - AZ, Muelheim (GER)
04/17 - tba (BEL)
04/18 - Elfer music club, Frankfurt (GER)
04/19 - DANZ, Regensburg (GER)
04/20 - LIWI, Leipzig (GER)
04/21 - AZconni, Dresden (GER)
To hear samples or to lend a hand for that date on the 14th, head to myspace: http://www.myspace.com/manhattanbitches
Oslo-based math-metal act Manhattan Skyline will tour the UK this fall:
09/28 - tba, Leeds (UK)
09/29 - tba, Nottingham (UK)
09/30 - Westport, Dundee (UK)
10/01 - Canons Gait, Edinburgh (UK)
10/02 - Bar Bloc Glasgow, Glasgow (UK)
10/03 - tba, Aberdeen (UK)
10/04 - tba, Oxford (UK)
10/05 - The Downtown Diner, Ashford (UK)
10/06 - The Lido, Margate (UK)
10/07 - tba, Chester (UK)
10/08 - tba, Coventry (UK)
The band will also be contributing to the forthcoming "Emo apocalypse" compilation on React With Protest featuring 30-second songs from a whole shitload of bands such as Funeral Diner, The Birds Are Spies They Report to the Trees, Suis La Lune, Catena Collapse and many, many more. Otherwise, the band is in the studio working on their full-lenth debut and hopes to have it done in time for the aforementioned tour.
Download the mp3 for "Sheep envenomed by mechanical pigs" by Norwegian hardcore act Manhattan Skyline as remixed by Wipeout: http://www.audioisawar.com/mp3/Manhattan_Skyline_-_remix.mp3
Manhattan Skyline is a new Norweigan band featuring ex-members of Kaospilot that plays "tech-chaos-metal something" akin to (older) Switchblade or Dillinger Escape Plan. They recently put a couple new mp3s up on their website from their upcoming 3", so head on over if that's the kind of stuff that you're into.