Mantric Momentum is a heavy metal band from Norway formed in 2011 by multi-instrumentalist Christer Haroy. The band’s debut album ‘Trial By Fire’ was released in 2022…
…featuring Terje Haroy (Pyramaze) – Christer’s cousin – on lead vocals. The new album is twelve songs and an hour of hard-hitting, infectious melodic heavy metal – the band performing at the top level, as ‘Trial By Fire’ is brought to life by the weighty intro ‘Tabula Rasa’, setting a tension-filled atmosphere for the albums opening tirade ‘Course Of Fate’. And a fast and furious tirade it is, too – the band emulating a European power metal come traditional heavy metal sound. ‘Course Of Fate’ even has a little aggression tucked in there, too Mantric Momentum is getting their debut album off to an absolute flyer! Adopting a much more melodic feel, ‘In The Heart Of The Broken’ is an emphatic and punchy romp that’ll be loved by metal traditionalists. The sound is big, beefy, and bombastic, shuddering the ground wherever it may be played, reducing buildings to rubble with ease.
The opening double by Mantric Momentum has just been incredible, with an infectious level that rocketed off the charts at phenomenal speed. And punching even harder, ‘New Horizon’ is liable to knock your head off – if you don’t duck quick enough! I tell ya, melodic heavy metal has never sounded so good – the band striding forth with a majesty that’s gonna set them apart from many other bands of the same ilk. Are we listening to the best debut album of the year? Maybe, just maybe! Dropping the oomph and energy heard so far, ‘Fighter’ is a much mellower swagger, bringing forth an air of the anthemic, as it plants one foot in the hard rock genre and screams, “come listen to me” to all the rock fans just lounging around doing very little. What a wake-up call! The title song ‘Trial By Fire’ immediately returns the swashbuckling heaviness, introducing a rabble-rousing atmosphere that’ll get every metal head from around the world punching the air with all their might. And the chorus is gonna be screamed by everyone – very loudly!
Blistering speed lights up the album in the shape of ‘Final Warning’ – a fast-paced “foot on the monitor” metaller to get the blood pumping and heads moving back and forth at an extreme rate of knots. ‘Final Warning’ is a heavy-hitting rampage of glorious heavy metal to excite every traditional metal fan everywhere. The band show diversity, leaning towards the progressive metal with the bombastic oomph of ‘Carry Me’ – a mid-tempo swagger of savage intent. The pummelling and pounding that ‘Carry Me’ dishes out is gonna break bones and smash skulls, with the local A&E departments overloaded with severe cases of GBH and ABH. ‘In The Eye Of The Hurricane’ increases the infectious level even higher – a feat I never thought possible! Mantric Momentum on an unstoppable roller coaster of high excitement – every listener is holding on tight with their fingertips, enjoying the incredible ride.
Entering the boxing ring to punch hard once more, ‘Writing On The Wall’ is a mid-tempo monster of knockout blows! The punchiest of all the punchy metallers on offer, ‘Writing On The Wall’ is a crushing blend of traditional metal and the foot-stomping attitude of anthemic metal. And now for the longest song on offer, clocking in at over eight minutes in length – ‘Diamond’ is a deviation from the heavy metal thunder heard up to this point. Mid-tempo and atmospheric as it gets underway, ‘Diamond’ is a majestic hymn-like march but much heavier than what you’d normally expect from a hymn-like march. The band thankfully stayed two steps away from falling into ballad country. The final song, ‘(I’ll Never Be) Maria Magdalena’, features a guest lead vocal performance from Tina Gunnarsson – singer for the Swedish progressive metal band Hexed – and is a more hustle and bustle song than heard anywhere else on the album. Not to mention the song’s very strong progressive leanings too!
Overall, a thunderous and highly addictive debut album of traditional heavy metal, thoroughly enjoyable and massively head bang-able.
TRACKLIST
Tabula Rasa
Course Of Fate
In The Heart Of The Broken
New Horizon
Fighter
Trial By Fire
Final Warning
Carry Me
In The Eye Of The Hurricane
Writing On The Wall
Diamond
(I’ll Never Be) Maria Magdalena (bonus)
Mantric Momentum: Facebook
Release Year: 2022
Label: Frontiers Music s.r.l.
Category: Album
Country: Norway
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire, and Metal-Roos.
