UMUR "Kollaps" is the debut full-length studio album by Norwegian black metal act Manii. The album was released through Avantgarde Music in January 2013. Manii was formed by Cernunnus (guitars) and Sargatanas (vocals) after Manes disbanded in 2011. Sargatanas already left Manes in 1999 after the release of "Under ein blodraud maane (1999)" and before their progressive/experimental phase, so Manii is the reunion of the two main members of Manes from their black metal period.

"Kollaps" ultimately sounds very little like "Under ein blodraud maane (1999)" though, so anyone hoping for a continuation of the sound of the latter mentioned should´t get their hopes up too high. Stylistically the music on "Kollaps" is slow/doomy and atmospheric black metal (tagged as suicide black metal by some). It´s depressive, gloomy and cold. The riffs are usually repeated a lot to build the dark atmospheres and the music will primarily appeal to those who favor atmosphere over riffs and not the other way round.

The sound production is raw and cold, which is a sound that suits the music well. The distorted guitar tone is almost too abrassive and harsh, but in the end that too suits the music well. "Kollaps" is overall a decent quality release by Manii, but considering the high quality and adventurous nature of most of Manes discography, it doesn´t really reach those heights. Within the slow/doomy part of the black metal scene "Kollaps" is not exactly a revolutionizing release but a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is still deserved.

adg211288 Once there existed a Norwegian band called Manes, who played black metal. Manes however left the genre behind after the release of their debut album Under ein Blodraud Maane (1999) and began producing albums outside of any metal genre starting with the electronic alternative rock album Vilosophe (2003) and lastly the trip-hop album How the World Came to an End (2007). After these three full-lengths, Manes called it a day, their last major release being an EP, Reinvention (2008). This is the point where Manii enters the picture, featuring former Manes members Cernunnus (guitars) and Sargatanas (vocals) and marking a return to the black metal genre. Kollaps is the debut album of the new group and it was released in 2013. Manes themselves actually reformed sometime after the release of Kollaps, with Cernunnus performing in both projects, although it is unknown to me at this time what sort of direction Manes’ music will go in.

Manii’s take on black metal fits best within the so called depressive style due to their rather droning, monotonous playing style which makes use of some atmospheric ambient elements here and there. Generally the sound is quite lo-fi and slow to mid paced, in other words the genre specifics done by the book. There’s a hypnotic quality to be had, but the effect is inconsistent to me, which is the term I’d use to best describe the album in all aspects. This is why Kollaps fails to make much of an impression on me. The skill is there, but the results aren’t. Kollaps cannot be called a bad release but there’s just something about it that isn’t clicking with me. I’ll admit that this particular area of black metal isn’t one I’ve particularly explored, so I’m judging Kollaps on my standards of the genre at large, but on that count, more than anything, Kollaps strikes me as being a bit boring. Take a track like Kaldt, which is just over seven minutes of basically the same melody over raw black metal riffs with only very occasional variation.

Opener Skoddeheim is one of the stronger compositions here but the rest seems to ponder on without any particular goal in mind due to the release’s repetitive nature. On paper that shouldn’t be a problem, but the atmosphere of Kollaps doesn’t exactly draw me in or invoke any sort of emotions, especially not the negative ones that depressive black metal, as I understand it, is supposed to. I don’t totally dislike Kollaps as an album, but I can’t help but feel it’s one of those albums that can easily be skipped over due to its overall total middle of the road nature, which is also the sort of rating it deserves.

53/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/manii-kollaps-t3007.html)