Cherry Red [Release date 24.07.26]

German Speed / Power Metal Band, Mania released one EP, Wizard Of The Lost Kingdom (which is in no way as corny as the title suggests), and one full length album, the cult classic, Changing Times, in 1989. They were immediately bracketed with fellow countrymen, Blind Guardian, Running Wild and Helloween.

For the band – Chris Klauke, Uli Kurth, Frank Jalas, Thomas Nielsen and Thies Bendixen – this recognition was reward for having blazed a trail across Germany and surrounding countries since forming in 1982.
Seven years of testing material on stage, while grinding out the tour miles, teaches you what works and what doesn’t.

And it paid off. The album’s opening duo, ‘The Expulsion’ and ‘Turn Toward The Light’, brassy and bombastic, are a complete fusion of every speed metal song delivered into the light by Helloween on the two “Keeper” albums.

It’s a “hold that thought” moment. Leaning heavily on stripped-down production that emphasized their speed and power, “To the End of the World and “We Don’t Need War”, dark and aggressive, maintain the momentum, slowing down, speeding up, sometimes at neck snapping velocity. The kind of beefed up material that Gamma Ray spun into heavy metal gold.

The collection of noises Kurth and Jalas wrest from their guitars during “No Way Back” and “Gambler” is hugely impressive, as is the way each one seems to ratchet up the music’s tension a little further every time.
This was Power Metal at its finest, fast and powerful… lean and mean, but for one reason or another it failed to gain traction.

They got a lot of support initially from the USA’s Heavy Metal magazine “Metal Maniacs”. But that was never going to be enough. A year later – 1990 – they gave up the ghost and disbanded.

For this remastered release, Cherry Red has merged the EP and album into one excellent 17 track CD. ***1/2

Review by Brian McGowan

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