Core, by Manifesto (CD on Plague)

 

This record left our BRIAN D feeling happy.

My mind was once utterly unequipped for ambiance sombre, a field of music that is often so sparse, discordant & unsettling that I still feel the need to translate it into French, such is it's Gothic menace & essence of Industrial decay. Well I could use Russian but that would lose it's romantic edge! To confuse the matter further, Manifesto is a Swedish chap who would probably stamp his foot in disgust at the small amount of Scandopop & indie lounging around in my dusty cupboard. He manipulates those juddering, doom flecked minimal soundscapes so beloved of frowning types like a true pro. His latest outing 'Core' is housed in an outsized A5 package with a free X-ray, possibly of something unpleasant or maybe just part of his dark soul. Rather than concentrate on plain ominous drifting, he employs some apocalyptic industrial sounds, merged with some brooding disembodied keyboards, trumpets, digital sludge & grumbling atmospheric slurry to construct a work of deep integrity that sounds quite remarkable & occasionally rather moving. When it's not got you rooted to the spot in blind terror! No actually, to be realistic, this is an extremely varied & passionate work, full of unnerving sound textures, sinister synths, intermittent distorted beats, altogether brilliantly produced to flow much like a spooktastic movie score (imagine the actual film!) Limited to 100 on Plague Recordings, a very collectable specialist label. I can't compare anything with this so take my word as a novice, there's real satisfaction to be gleaned from 'Core', a premium beast indeed!