Ελληνικά
Genre: Progressive Death Metal
Country: Greece
Label: Copro Records/Casket Music
Year: 2000
A few days ago I wrote a bunch of words for the re-issue of Acid Death’s debut album. That’s exactly what I will do here for “Random’s Manifest”, the second and final record of the band’s first era, which was also re-released, after being re-mastered, with the addition of two bonus songs, a demo version of “Sense of Annihilation” and the previously unreleased “I Walk by the Moonlight”.
The cover may, at first sight, seem like that it could belong to a brutal death metal band, however, a second, closer, look may reveal details (such as the subject’s androgynous nature and the positioning of the body) that suggest that there probably some hidden symbolisms there, regarding the whole human kind.
When it comes to the music, the band is now more focused on the pure death metal elements, in comparison with the debut. Savvas’ vocals sound “deeper” than in any other of his work, the acoustic/atmospheric parts have been narrowed and the keys by Nigel Foxxe (fantastic once again) have a smaller contribution to the whole. Some doom rhythms spawn here and there, thrash is always present subliminally, while some middle-eastern scales (the kind of those Chuck always loved) are frequently present on the lead guitars, which, by the way, play a crucial part in the album, either accompanying the riffs or playing some intriguing solos. The songwriting is once more as progressive as it gets, meaning that the structure is complex and multileveled. The experimentation peaks with the instrumental “Misery Colored Yellow-Black”, which expands even to jazz-fusion territory. Finally, the clean vocals, used for the first time, did not thrill me both with the tone and the way they were placed in the songs.
The results by the re-mastering were similar to those of “Pieces of Mankind”, and that means more volume on the sting instruments. When it comes to the drum sound, well, the band was either unable to make changes, or never intended to do so, as this may have ended altering the overall sound characteristics of the recording. To be more specific, the (flawlessly played) drums have a completely “plastic”, in my ears, yet unique sound –this is probably a love or hate kind of situation here.
In conclusion, another Acid Death release that has not been accredited as much as it should even today, not to mention back in 2000, has been re-released. This is not music for all ears, never meant to be… however, if the word progressive sounds intriguing and you have not listened to “Random’s Manifest”, then you just ought to.
4.5/6
