Manitou - Deadlock

*=Staff's pick	And The Silence Bites Fools In Control Waste, Damnation* The State Of Mind Black Burning Flame Swallowing The Dark Psychoracer* Lead A Wild Ride By The Waves Of Stars* Black Meadow (Menace Of War) Black Meadow*

Genre	Melodic Heavy Metal	Markku Pihlaja	Vocals
Tracks	11	Markus Vanhala	Guitar
Runningtime	47 Min.	Anti Laurén	Guitar
Label	Metal Heaven	Ismo Laukkanen	Bass
Release	07 July 2006	Matti Suhonen	Drums
Country	Finland	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Tarot, Brainstorm, Annihilator

Deadlock is the second album from Finnish band Manitou that made their debut with the album The Mad Moon Rising in 2004. The band, which hails from the Karhula-area, formed in 1997 but then with a little different line-up, and now Manitou is apparently one of Finland's most promising bands if you are to believe the info that came with the album. Since this band is new to me, I cannot tell what has been changed, or not changed, with their music in between their two full-length releases, although they have apparently lost their keyboard player in that time and decided to carry on without keys.

So, Finnish melodic metal with the absence of keyboards, is that possible? Yes, if you like Manitou put the emphasis a bit more on metal instead of melodic it is, just like the band Tarot (the band where Marco Hietala from Nightwish handles bass and vocals) which Manitou have a lot in common with. When the first song And The Silence Bites starts with its up-tempo beat I find their metal very easy to take in, Manitou's manor of letting the songs start rather immediate makes that they take you right to the centre of the their songs fast and direct. At a first glance the music comes out as pretty straight forward heavy metal with a mix of the eighties and the nineties traditional metal, nevertheless, at a second glance you find traces of progressive elements as well, not least in the closing nine-minute epic The Black Meadow. However, we are not talking about any over the edge, neck-braking progressive moves. They keep things plain and simple, yet on a high level. The band mentions acts like Queensrÿche, Dio, Iron Maiden, Annihilator, Tarot, Dream Theater and Ozzy as archetypes for their music and if you like, you can find traces of all of those bands.

The songs where Manitou come out at their very best are the ones that are a little faster and that are a little more hard hitting on the drums. By The Waves Of Stars driven forward by determined drums and with proggy elements that comes sneaking up on you really brings out the best of Manitou. The song has a nice flow to it and it puts a reminder in me of the nineties period wiht Megadeth. Psychoracer also counts as one of the better tracks, and as with the recent mentioned song it has some occasional U.S. Power Metal influences. These songs get a rawer edge with their heavier and tougher approach and as all songs on the album they have a clear and obvious touch of a Finnish sound.

The guys seem to all be well acquainted with their instruments and how to handle them, but drummer Matti Suhonen seems to be knowing his instrument a little better. Markku Pihlaja seems to have a limited vocal range, although he has a strong and raw voice that fits the metal from Manitou. Leads, solos, harmonies and the riffing come out well from the two guitarist and the song Waste, Damnation contains a floating guitar line and heavy riffs that makes me think of Iron Maiden. But apart from that song, even though I am not that overly familiar with Annihilator, it mostly sounds like Jeff Waters of Annihilator has served as role model for the guitar playing.

What I like about Manitou is that they take you in to their music rather fast and that it is easy to take the songs in, but what I don't like is that I have problems making the songs stick. Even though the songs tend to sound similar and feature similar riffs and such, I love Deadlock as long as I am listening to it, but the music tends to fall out of my head as soon as it stops spinning.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
7	6	6,5

Summary
6,5 chalices of 10 - Thomas