This is a bit of a surprising release from Candlelight Records, given that Candlelight is the home of Emperor and other black metal bands. While Manes started off as a ‘traditional’ black metal act, their sound on this 2007 release emphasizes elements of world music, free-form jazz and hip-hop. Immediate points of comparison are the 80’s line-up of King Crimson and/or the world music side of Peter Gabriel crossed with the electronica/goth sounds of 80’s Depeche Mode.

This is an adventurous release by Manes as it is both danceable and accessible to the masses. Tracks like “I Watch You Fall” and “The Cure-All” have both clean vocals and an intricately layered soundscape of melodies and sounds. There are a number of guest vocalists/artists on this release (11 guests are listed on the band’s website) but, even with the stylistic differences between tracks, this disc flows as a cohesive body of work. The atmosphere of the disc is highlighted by crystal-clear production which keeps the layers of sounds from being overwhelming and it also makes for great headphones listening.

It appears that Manes’ MySpace page is down, Mains’ website hasn’t been updated in a year and the band parted ways with Candlelight Records earlier this year so I’m not sure what the best way is to keep up with the band. The band though is supposed to be working on a upcoming release, tentatively entitled 'Be All End All', so I’m sure that Manes will resurface on the web soon.