Manitou [2004] The Mad Moon Rising

These guys are from Finland and this is their debut album. Their music can be described as progressive metal with some influences from power metal, but their roots are deep into progressive. This album was kind of a surprise for me for many reasons. First of all this particular label has used us in more heavy and extreme releases and secondly because the guys are actually good and since I haven’t heard anything about them before, it was kind of a surprise. The album is highly technical, but the songs are not that long and they have some pretty strong melodies. The musicianship is excellent and the guys are very skilled musicians while they know the secrets of songwriting and they have the ability to deliver some pretty good songs. This is without a doubt one of the most promising debuts in the genre of progressive metal we have heard in a long time and I am willing to bet some good money that we will hear again from those guys and soon enough. If you are into progressive then invest without the slightest doubt.