Album review : MANTRIC MOMENTUM – Alienized

Frontiers Music [Release date : 14.02.25]

It’s all in the family with Mantric Momentum.

Second album from cousins and close friends Terje (Pyramaze) Haroy on vocals, and Christer (Crossnail) Haroy on everything else.

The band idea took 6 years to germinate, growing from one song written and recorded by Christer and famed Swedish producer Jacob Hansen in 2011.

It was worth the wait. The debut, Trial By Fire opened to universal acclaim. Call it what you will – power metal, melodic metal – it hit hard and it ran deep.

In the lexicon of melodic metal, the word ‘subtlety’ is normally shunned like a soft rock pariah. But, there are subtleties here, often hidden among the epic and the bombast.

Repeat plays (as always) reveal more than initially meets the ear… a short, almost subliminal burst of bass between verse and chorus on ‘The Light’. The Queenlike bass drum and handclap intro on ‘The Highest Mountain’. ‘Come Undone’s change of pitch as the chorus drops into the song’s finishing moments, and so on.

The sonic images they create to reflect the story in each track, like on ‘Sirens Call’ and ‘Barricades’, paint a robust soundscape. The densely constructed arrangements really set the pulse racing. And Magnus Karlsson’s majestically orchestrated opening instrumental adds a touch of class.

The subtleties come in the lyrics too. As well as a strong, expanding sense of melody, the title track addresses the weighty issues of loneliness and grief in a world of increasing chaos.
And then… ‘The Light’, er… lightens the mood. An accessible rock ballad. A love song driven by sinewy harmonies, taut and tense.

Mood variety then becomes the norm. ‘Come Undone’ is more hard rock than metal, and ‘Remember’s chiming riffs nicely contrast with Terje’s barrel chested vocal, dredged up from the heavy metal depths.

Cool stuff. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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Power Plays w/c 10 March 2025

THE SOUL REVIVAL Outlaw (indie)
WHEN RIVERS MEET Addicted To Love (indie)
ISABELLA STORM Satan’s Valentine (indie)
KEYSTONE Slow Down Honey (indie)
THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE Sleep Tonight (Metropolis Records)
SAWMOON Madness (indie)

Featured Albums w/c 10 March 2025

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003 – 2024 (Singer Songwriter)

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