Wow! Since I saw their convincing gig at the Sweden Rock festival, I have really looked forward to this album from the Copenhagen based band Manticora. Well, beat me – the result has been worth the wait! “Hyperion” is a concept album, based upon Dan Simmons’ sci-fi novel of the same name. You can feel the red line through the whole album, which enables you to not only listen to one single track, but the whole album – 100% power! This disc offers anything you’d want from a power metal release: Cool (!) production (Jacob Hansen/Tommy Hansen), diversity, controlled tempo changes and of course POWER!

After each listen, new details occur that make the small hairs on the arms rise in the cool way. They have especially been able to spice up the album with acoustic passages and female vocals, without letting it dominate too much. Also, this disc has the fantastic ability of never getting boring for one second of its running time.
Since their previous album “Darkness With Tales To Tell”, some line-up changes has been made on the bass (Kasper Gram) and on the lead guitar (Martin Arendal). One has to say that they have finally found the perfect line-up, coz’ I’m totally crazy about the delicate harmonies and the killer solo’s delivered by the guitarists.

I shed a little tear, when hearing the middle passage in “Keeper Of Time – Eternal Champion”, which reminds me of the classic Iron Maiden track “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner”. This album has already become a permanent part of my stereo, so if you just happen to like power metal a bit, you ought to….no, by damn, you have to own this album, when it hits the street by 28th of October. Respect!

Some bands release albums that have a strong connection and intensly remind us of their previous albums. There is another category of bands that release albums that have almost nothing to do with their previous release. This doesn't mean that they change genre, but they manage to progress their music and take it a step ahead. This is after all, what we mean when we say that a band is progressive.

So, keeping this in mind we can say that Manticora are progressing, offering to us, in my opinion, their best album ever! They, of course, maintain those elements in their music that identify them, but they sound very evolved. I guess that these guys managed to find the golden line between the american bay area sound and the European (mainly German) sound. They are heavy and strong but the melodies are always there more than obvious. The addition of some oriental riffs suits like a glove to their music.

Now, regarding the vocal section, I have to say that much work has been done there as well. The use of female vocals in some parts is great (this woman has an amazing voice) and Lars's vocals have a variety and they sound more theatrical to me. You can listen to his laments giving place to anger, despair and fear, singing all these sentiments with a great passion. This release is recommended to all heavy/power metallers (either you prefer the American or the European scene). This is a gem that will make you proud of your cd collection!

Manticora has grown a lot these years, no doubt about it. The "rocky" heavy/speed band - who gave our first ever interview on metalreviews.com - is slowly but surely becoming a wonderful butterfly. Hyperion sees Manticora spreading its wings and flying away from the mass. The talent of the band is crystallized on their third album and you will discover that these musicians are following the path of the best (Blind Guardian, Iced Earth, Nevermore).

The trademark of Manticora - jumping from one tempo to another - is fully controlled this time : speedy here, heavier a few second later, thrashy when the tempo gets fast again and finally progressive when needed. Only the "tenors" are able to write & play such a music, without boring the listener. The song-writing is topnotch, full of ideas and these musicians have strategically inserted lots of different tempos throughout the main tracks to increase the already astounding amount of atmosphere contained within this disk. Lars' vocals are better than ever -what a voice !!!- and the guy can be proud to sound like nobody else.

The guitar is also unbelievable on Hyperion and the number of "killing solos" is outstanding - listen carefully to the one on A Long Farewell, that's my favourite. The production is extremely sharp and each instrument has been placed and mixed at the right place. Congratulation for this wonderful sound !

After the "usual" intro, Filaments Of Armageddon hits the street ... bang bang ! Being a huge fans of Blind Guardian, Iced Earth and Nevermore, this song is the sum of these bands plus this typical Manticora's recipe that makes the difference. Of course, Lars' vocal is a part of the "secret recipe" but there is no doubt the song-writing process has been taken very seriously. Filaments Of Armageddon will certainly become a classic of the band. I mentioned many time Blind Guardian because for me Manticora is a kind of progressive dark side of the Germans bards.

The other "surprise" on Hyperion comes from the female vocal here and there, but don't worry, these vocals are used perfectly on very few moments - I actually notice them only after a few spins. Keeper Of Time - Eternal Champion - another future classic song from the Danish band - sees oriental feeling, with a wonderful bass surrounding the whole song. Cantos explode my last resistance ... actually the drummer explodes me :)) No doubt about it my dear readers, this is the best effort of the band so far ! But this is no surprise for me as I already told you back in 1999 that Manticora is a future monster !

Hyperion is a very important step for Manticora, the third step to be precise, the time when a band must score or die. Well, as far as I am concerned, Manticora scores largely with this one and if you still don't know this band, you should definitely run to the nearest store and rob one of the best power/speed/prog metal of this year. Gosh I like this band :))

3rd full length album for Manticora. Based on Dan Simmons novels, the band delivers another masterpiece. After "Roots Of Eternity" and "Darkness With Tales To Tell", "Hyperion" constitutes the third reason that should make me think like those guys are really a great band!
Two basic elements are their "trade mark".

The voice of Lars and the musical background in general. Admiring vocalists such as Bruce Dickinson, Russel Allen, Warrel Dane and James Hetfield, Lars sings in a very personal sequence balancing between Warrel Dane and Hansi Kursch. His wide experience (since 1989 in various other bands) has made him turn out expressive and powerful on the stage, and believe me, this is very good.

Trying to describe the music is really hard for me, because is hard to describe feelings. A myst of darkness haunts all songs, but the speed is most times nimble. Bulk on the guitars, atmospherical keyboards and accoustical parts, emotional vocals when fit, torrent drumming that transforms without problems... faultless technical skills in combination with inspiration result ripe compositions that excite the mind and shiver the skin.

Every single time you listen to this terrific CD, you find yourself exploring new feelings and hundreds of thoughts gathering... this is what I call a varied and interesting album. "Reversed" and "At The Keep" are the two ballads included... rest songs are real dynamites and sorry I can't even choose which is my favorite.

It is very rare to release three contiguous CDs of high quality and expanded inspiration. The Danish prove their value once again, prove their tendency to go against commercial ways of musical approach.

After having tested different waters, got label screwed and endured line up changes on the previous 3 releases, Manticora is now living an awakening of. With pencil and paper in hand, someone in Manticora did their homework and checked the "To do & not to do list".

Having hastily over credited "Darkness With Tales To Tell", Hyperion has my offical vote for Manticora's best offering. Any which way you look at it the Manticora of 2002 have pinpointed and improved on so many aspects that make a metal album of noteworthy status. Possibly thought of as grid locked at an impasse in respect to groundbreaking terms (someone is bound to say something like that), while for others Hyperion, an exhaustively thought out epic lyrical re-decoration of Dan Simmons' saga, achieves closure on middle grounds with a little of the old, a little of the new philosophy, having overly improved much the musicianship.

Their eighties 'falling in and out of' double bass triggering power metal trademark the main infrastructure is no longer. It is just one of the roles supporting a more up scaled heavy edged and thrashier riffed basic German rooted modern progressive metal around symphonic atmospheres, keaboard interludes, small additions of female vocals and a future fantasy framework.

So German, the Manticora basics and Lars' Hansi resemblances are defining of Blind Guardian material, less vocally sampled but intensely guttural of course. Throughout their history, Manticora has been intensifying by the release and their latest is no different. You can sense their attempts for a distinctive sound and music style slowly unfolding. Their songwriting and playing skills have always had a consistent mentality with the difference being to rely on making matters more technical and multi-dimensional.

Opinions of a "Different Strokes For Different Folks" type of vocalist will be resurrected but HYPERION should please their old fans and bring new ones to the forefront. Let's face it, if your wondering whether Lars can pull off those Joacim Hans type of melodies or will he ever sound like he isn't straining, you are wasting your breath. Melody isn't the main criterion here- ready yourself for full aggressive epic metal. Whether you like him or not, whether the vocals get you all hot and bothered or not, get over it. Besides, another strong production can do more than you think.

Whether this album ages well with time remains to be seen but consider this strong enough to find out and likely to make cd of the month in a few places.

Manticora's previous release "Darkness with tales to tell" was an instant favourite of mine, so it is not an under-statement to say that I had high hopes for the follow-up "Hyperion". This is Danish Manticora's third full-length album, a conceptual epic power metal release based on the novel with the same name (Hyperion) by acknowledged science fiction writer Dan Simmons.

Compared to its predecessor, this follow-up feels sligthly more dark and aggressive and more focused on storytelling. This time it feels as though it is very important to tell the story right, and the music follows right in the footsteps of the lyrics. Musicwise the arrangements feels slightly more intricate and sophisticated, and maybe a little more technical as well. It might have something to do with the fact that they have acquired a new bass player by the name of Kasper Gram (ex. Wuthering Heights) and they also found a new lead guitar player in Martin Arendal. They both seem and sound like good replacements.

Even though the album gains most from being considered as a unity due to the lyrical and musical concept, I think there are some songs that are worth giving a little special attention. The powerful "Cantos" is very straight-forward and heavy and its topped by a magnificent chorus. The trio consisting of "On a sea of grass - night", the melancholic "Reversed" and"On a sea of grass - day" is a strong part on this album, I just wish they would have given the first mentioned one a little more time to evolve (1:41 is way too short for a song, only Ramones can get away with it). "A long farewell" is another highly recommendable song which contains some spectacular guitar playing and a good chorus.

Even though Manticora's focus aren't set on creating sing-a-long choruses some tracks will work perfectly for that as well!
The production is strong, lots of heaviness and energy and the music has a good drive! Once again they got help from producer Jacob Hansen (Invocator, Hatesphere) of Aabenraa Studios and the mixing was done by Tommy Hansen (Helloween and many others).

Together they did a splendid job! Manticora is a band that I can strongly recommend to any fan of power metal and epic storytelling in a heavy metal fashion. They are a good counterpart to all the similar-sounding pop wannabes of the scene, a good choice if you wish for more substance and heaviness in power metal.

The fourth release from ‘Danish Epic Power Metal’ band Manticora. I had never heard of this band before, and the only reason that it stood out was the fact that it was a concept album based off the famous science fiction novel Hyperion by Dan Simmons. Knowing that I had the book sitting on my desk waiting to be read prompted me to purchase this disc. This is a decision that I am glad I made, as Hyperion is the best Power Metal album I’ve heard all year.

The lyrics deal with 7 pilgrims making a voyage to the planet Hyperion amidst an intergalactic war. On Hyperion they will face a beast, who will kill all but one of them to whom he will grant a wish. Most of the songs tell the story of a pilgrim and explore many themes. The music follows suit and varies wildly throughout.

Hyperion is fast, heavy, and very aggressive, but at the same time has amazing melody. Most of the songs are guitar and drum driven, with the bass roaring along and the keyboards taking the back seat. The production is top-notch and even at 64 minutes long there is hardly a dull moment. Most of the songs are fast paced with lots of tempo changes, melodic interludes, and excellent solos. The transitions are seamless and flow together wonderfully.

There is a definite similarity to Iced Earth that Manticora can’t seem to shake on this album, especially the rhythm guitar work (guitarist Kristian Larsen does cite John Schaffer as an inspiration) and the male narration matches Schaffer’s Iced Earth narration almost spot on. Vocalist Lars Larsen has a fantastic voice and utilizes it with great skill; the vocals are layered but very conservative. I can’t shake the feeling that I am listening to a younger Hansi Kursch (without the excessive layering, and better annunciation and delivery).

A few tracks have some female vocals which are very well done and fit the songs; ‘Reversed’ has female narration as well. The only true problem with Hyperion is the keyboards. With the exception of the opening track the keyboards do not feature heavily, but when they do…they are pretty damn poor. The tones are awful and sound similar to what you would hear on a crappy video game soundtrack; thankfully these moments are few and far between.

Hyperion is a great album from beginning to end, and easily one of the best albums in a year of excellent releases.

The Danes really impressed me with their last release, "Darkness with Tales To Tell". This time it's a conceptual disc, based on Dan Simmons Hyperion, which by the way is somewhat of a classic within the science fiction genre.

After a boring intro it doesn't take many seconds of "Filaments Of Armageddon" to make me see the quality this time around as well. Cool, heavy, melodic and powerful riffs, and a very good production. The album offers 6 songs around the 7-8 minute length as well as a couple of shorter songs. In total it's more than an hours worth of music, so you really get some value for your money.

And .. it's interesting all the way throughout. Manticora sounds like a mixture of Iced Earth (atmosphere) and Blind Guardian (arrangements and vocals). This should at least get a couple of you to check out this very good album.

"Hyperion" is the third album released by the Danes of MANTICORA. An album that shows a band even more mature than before and which plays some heavy speed metal full of power -probably more than any other band. "Hyperion" is more varied than the previous "Darkness with tales to tell" and proposes things such as breaks, acoustic tunes or female vocals... I mean things which were almost totally ignored by the band before.

Moreover, this opus mixes these calm and mélodic elements with the real speed and power of MANTICORA's music for an impressive and perfect result. MANTICORA was a great band one year ago, it's a major one today ! A band which, as well as MOB RULES, WUTHERING HEIGHTS or AXENSTAR, must be followed by heavy speed metal fans who love powerful but melodic music with some real personality and uniqueness.

In short, "Hyperion" is one of the best releases of the month and presents a singer (Lars Larsen) with one of the most unique voice of heavy speed metal universe (with tunes that reminds some BLIND GUARDIAN or PERSUADER from time to time). Enjoy !