Title: Trial & Triumph
Format Reviewed: MP3
Format Released: 13th November 2015
Reviewed By: Jon Peach
This time, I've been listening to London-based hard-rock quartet The Manic Shine's new album Trial & Triumph, released via Pledge Music on 13th November. The Manic Shine are made up of Oz on lead vocals and guitar, Orren on guitars, Hutch on bass, and Tamir pounding the drums. They describe themselves on Facebook as "4 beards and a dream", which instantly sparked my interest as a bearded man myself. Now is it just the fondness for beards that interest me or do we have more in common then just facial fuzz...Let's jump into Trials & Triumph and see what these four furry fellas can do!
Trials & Triumph opens with Ball & Chain. Straight away you can hear the influence Rage Against The Machine have had on The Manic Shine, with the opening guitar riff being funky as hell over Tamir's tight and punchy drums. Oz's vocals were not as gruff as I expected from the sound of the intro: I just expected a bit more push; however they are still rock'n'roll, just in a more Talking Heads kind of way. The chorus is also a bit more poppy than I expected from a hard rock band, but full of great depth and vocal harmonies. Tamir's drums are jam-packed with impressive fills and rolls, and about two and a half minutes into Ball & Chain you get a fantastic drop. From this you know it's just gonna explode, as it does with a very Tom Morello-esque solo from Orren. The use of the wha pedal on Ball & Chain is very impressive and the track finishes with a flourish of wha's, which I loved. Once I listened to the album a few times, Ball & Chain turned out to be one of my favourites.
The third track on Trials & Triumph is called Haze (Singing my Name) and it's an altogether different beast, kicking off with monster rock drums dragged straight from the soul of John Bonham. Over Tamir's drums comes another funky, fat guitar riff with real edge, underpinned by Hutch's thick and fluid bass. Oz's vocals have a slightly distorted effect, giving them more bite and punch. Orren's guitar solo starts quite riff-based but ends with a twirling finger twister that shows a guitarist with real skill. The track finishes with The Manic Shine showing their stadium rock potential with a monster rock riff finish.
Binary, track nine on Trial & Triumph starts with a finger-tapping masterclass, sounding exactly as it should, and as you would expect: a computerised, cyber attack of the senses. You can imagine all the zeros and ones, the binary code behind the eyes of all good guitarists. The song is a full throttle rock hit, with manic passion in Oz's vocals through the verses and a call to "Take a chance on the outside" in the chorus. It's a great track with fazed guitars, banging drums and fat bass, if not a little 80s for my taste...
To sum up, Trials & Triumph by The Manic Shine is a great rock album. It's everything you want from an updated or rebooted Black Sabbath or Led Zeppelin. You can hear how influence has trickled through time from Zeppelin through Rage Against The Machine and into The Manic Shine. However, there is no ripping off here, just respectful acknowledgement of influence. So, if you're into classic rock through the ages, then Trials & Triumph is your next step...
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