Last Updated on 07:54 AM by Giorgos Tsekas
German metal duo MANTAR today unveils their latest video for “Odysseus.” The dark and atmospheric new hymn comes by way of the band’s blistering new full-length, Pain Is Forever And This Is The End, set to drop on July 15th via Metal Blade Records.
The most diverse and multifaceted MANTAR album to date, with their latest offering, guitarist/vocalist Hanno Klänhardt and drummer Erinc Sakarya take things to an entirely new level. Songs boast more melody and an array of guitar tones, influenced in no small part by the artists the pair covered on 2020’s Grungetown Hooligans II collection which featured MANTAR interpretations of songs from the likes of L7, Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, and The Jesus Lizard, formative bands from their respective youths. “I tried to tweak the guitar sound more according to each individual song and its respective mood,” notes Hanno on the songwriting approach to Pain Is Forever And This Is The End. “We tried to steer away from ‘metal sound’ standards and more in a direction where you can hear different nuances in sound. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but we never were a part of any scene, therefore we don’t ‘owe’ a certain sound to anyone.” Hanno even sings on occasion, “instead of only screaming like a maniac.“
Lyrically, tracks delve deep, pondering a variety of uncomfortable questions about mortality, spirituality, and the illusion of “belonging” in a world that’s unraveling and growing more disjointed by the day. “People desperately cling to anything that promises you or at least makes you believe that you ‘matter’ in some way,” notes Hanno, “that you are the master of the situation and that everything behaves as your own logic allows. We live in an interesting time where people have an unspeakable longing to find easy explanations to complex questions.“
Elaborates Hanno of the themes driving the band’s latest single, “‘Odysseus’ is about letting go, about a never-ending journey, about the feeling of never arriving, of being lost and doomed to live life in circles, and about the precious value of sleep.“
View the band’s previously released “Hang ‘Em Low (So The Rats Can Get ‘Em)” video at: youtu.be/uKo7YZlsedo
Pain Is Forever And This Is The End will be available on CD, LP, and digital formats.
View MANTAR‘s “Odysseus” video, directed by Dennis Dirksen below: