Manigance
Machine Nation

Metal in French doesn’t come around every day, but that is what we are given by French metal band Manigance. A band that started their career in 2002 and I have reviewed their album Récidive from 2011, and that was a very favourable review so I know these guys can make strong music. And Stylewise they are not really stepping away from what they did before, it is lyrics in French and classic power metal music.

Expect typical power metal styled music when you listen to Machine Nation, it conforms to the typical power metal and it is only the language that sets them apart. And that could probably be enough in most cases as an exotic language adds a sense of uniqueness to albums that doesn’t really have anything particularly unique. It is otherwise the distinct choruses, quite melodic metal that is commonplace in the power metal genre. And it is not a particularly varied album, something that probably will have some people feeling that the album is long.

The time required to listen to the album once is almost one hour and it would not have been detrimental to the album to edit away at least two of the twelve tracks the album has to offer. The other thing that is a bit less positive for this album is the lack of a distinct hit song, a song that really catches the listener and draws him/her into the album. The last time I heard the band they had several standout tracks but this has no such thing, which can be seen as a bit negative.

An album with many good aspects even though I listed some negatives in the paragraph before, the melodies is good and the French language is a fresh aspect to it. I also like the production, the album has a good sound and the energy they show can also be described as a positive aspect to this album. I think it is rather good but it is not a standout album and I don’t think it is particularly memorable even though it is good.

Listen to this album if you enjoy classic power metal, if you do chances are good that you will like this album. Thanks to them singing in French they do at least slightly rise above the grey mass of albums. I think Manigance has put together a good album here but I don’t think it is quite up to the standard they had on the previous album I reviewed a few years ago.

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