martindavey87 'Manifest Tyranny', the fifth album by Swedish progressive metal band Andromeda, once again sees the group pushing themselves to try new things and evolve their sound. Taking a mixture of the all-out riffage displayed in 'The Immunity Zone' and the proggy atmosphere of 'Chimera', this is a band who sounds a lot more mature and "complete" than on previous releases, with the chemistry between them firmly showing in the intensity of the music.

This is also the album where Andromeda succumbed to the dreaded metal cliché that is the politcal album! Lyrically, this isn't much different than any other band who has politically-themed songs, lashing out at corrupt governments that favour the rich, keep secrets from the public and advocate wars. The usual. Musically however, the band are as tight and as coherent as ever.

As always, each member here really demonstrates abilities that puts them at the top of their chosen field. After the more stripped down approach of their previous album, 'The Immunity Zone', guitarist Johan Reinholdz is prepared to rip things up again, shredding to his hearts content with some mind-blowing guitar acrobatics, which are matched note-for-note by keyboardist Martin Hedin. The interplay between these two is phenominal, and puts them right up there with the other top musicians in the genre.

With such heavy hitters as 'Stay Unaware', 'Preemptive Strike', 'Antidote', 'Survival of the Richest' and 'Chosen by God', as well as the softer 'Go Back to Sleep', Andromeda have released an album that further solidifies them as one of progressive metal's finest bands, and a worthy successor to Dream Theater's throne.

J-Man Sweden is known for its massive progressive metal scene, and one of the bigger names in this scene is Andromeda. In spite of this, Manifest Tyranny (their fifth full-length album) is my first acquaintance with their music, so I can't (yet) compare this with their earlier efforts. What we have here is a fairly unique brand of melodic progressive metal that, while still borrowing heavily from bands like Dream Theater, Pain of Salvation, and Evergrey, sounds pretty original. Manifest Tyranny is an impressive modern prog metal release, and while I can't say it's a shining success from every angle, there are enough positive traits to outweigh any detriments.

Musically, I'd say that Manifest Tyranny is best described as melodic progressive metal, but with a more raw and heavy edge. While still quite complex, there are lots of crushing guitar riffs throughout the album, and the raw production further exemplifies the heavy edge that Andromeda favors on this release. While far from revolutionary, Manifest Tyranny does not sound like any other band; Andromeda has their own sound, and deserves to be applauded for this. The lyrics dealing with political stigma, corruption in government, and war are also pretty interesting, and I love the way the band is able to incorporate this relevant message into their songs using voiceovers and sound samples. My biggest gripe with Manifest Tyranny is that there aren't a whole lot of great tracks, and even though the whole album is good, it seldom reaches a level of excellence. I'd say "Asylum" and "Go Back to Sleep" are both great tracks, but the rest of Manifest Tyranny seldom exceeds the 'average' mark. A few more impressive compositions would've really done the album wonders - after all, the musicians playing the songs are extremely precise throughout the full 64 minute duration.

Even though I wish Manifest Tyranny were a bit shorter and had a few more great songs, this is still a fairly easy recommendation for modern prog metal enthusiasts. If you're in search of original and lyrically relevant progressive metal with top-notch musicianship and classy melodies, you're bound to be impressed by what Andromeda offers on this observation. 3.5 stars are deserved, and I can safely say that I'll be checking out more albums from these Swedish lads in the future.

Time Signature Chosen by god...

Genre: progressive metal

This release is, as far as I remember, my first acquaintance with Swedish prog metallers Andromeda, so I do not have their earlier releases as a point of reference or a point of comparison.

In any case, I think that "Manifest Tyranny" is a pretty good album which is rich in variation and full of different impressions, but, still, there is a sense of consistency and coherence throughout the album (which is definitely a great strength, sine the album seems to be a concept album, criticizing American foreign politics). Going from semi-thrashy passages over quirky and technical ones to very mellow and melodic ones, generously sprinkling their music with layers of piano parts, electronica elements and plenty of references to classic prog rock, Andromeda invites the listener home for a buffet which will definitely leave even the most insatiable listener feeling satisfied.

The musicianship and production are top notch, and, while Andromeda wear their influences on their sleeves (I detect inspiration from early and more recent Dream Theater, 70s prog rock, recent Iron Maiden, late 90s and early 00s Fates Warning as well as [on the lyrical side] Queensrÿche), Andromeda's brand of progressive metal on this release strikes me as being quite original. While it does contain technical and quirky elements as well as dynamic song structures and spacey things, it never becomes inaccessible.

Andromeda's "Manifest Tyranny" is an original and lyrically relevant progressive metal release which does not disappoint.