Manticore>>MANTICORA - DENMARK

Roots Of Eternity - 1999 - Black Lotus
Darkness With Tales To Tell - 2001 - Scarlet
Hyperion - 2002 - Scarlet
8 Deadly Sins - 2004 - Massacre
The Black Circus Part 1 - Letters - 2006 - Massacre
The Black Circus Part 2 - Disclosure - 2007 - Locomotive
Safe - 2010 - Nightmare
To Kill To Live To Kill – 2018 - ViciSolum
To Live To Kill To Live – 2020 - ViciSolum
Mycelium - 2024 - Mighty

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Members
Vocals
Fear Itself, Moonchild, Fool's Game>>LARS F. LARSEN>>Moonchild, Fool's Game

Guitar
Fear Itself>>KRISTIAN LARSEN - Flemming Schultz - Wuthering Heights, Moonchild>>Martin Arendal>>Wuthering Heights, Moonchild, Killing Gandhi - STEFAN JOHANSSON


Bass
René S. Nielsen – Evil Masquerade, Zool, Wuthering Heights, Ureas>>Kasper Gram>>Zool, Wuthering Heights, Ureas, Missing Tide, Killing Gandhi - Sebastian Andersen - Evil Masquerade, Zool, Wuthering Heights, Missing Tide, Killing Gandhi, Ureas>>KASPER GRAM>>Ureas, Killing Gandhi

Drum
Rip And Tear, Human Factor, Degree Absolute, Infinity Overture>>Mads Volf>>Degree Absolute, Infinity Overture, Red Warszawa – Loch Vostok, Astral Carneval, Bleeding Utopia, Nightrage, Carnal Forge, Avund, Eternal Autumn, Sick Omania>>Lawrence Dinamarca> Loch Vostok, Carnal Forge, Avund, Eternal Autumn, Sick Omania


Keyboard
Cacophony>>Jeppe Eg Jensen>>Urkraft – Zool, Platitude, Wuthering Heights>> Andreas Lindahl>>Wuthering Heights, Audiovision, The Murder Of My Sweet, Iron Mask, Arms Of War - Ronni Clasen




History & Biography
The two Larsens formed the band in 1996 as Manticore following the split of Fear Itself. Adding Rene Nielsen on bass and Mads Volf on drums, the band recorded and released a 1997 demo called Dead End Solution. This demo was first issued as Manticore and later using the Manticora monicker. The group signed with Intromental Management – which was actually operated by singer Lars - and obtained a deal in Greece with Black Lotus Records. The group added a second guitarist and a keyboardist and in 2000 moved its label base to Italy’s Scarlet Records. Bassist Nielsen left in 2001. Schultz left in 2002. The group did not shed any tears and played at the Sweden Rock festival in 2002. The Hyperion album was inspired by the book The Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons. A tour later, the band issued another concept album before extending the notion into a two-album concept narrating the story of a medieval circus touring Europe. The band had its first US touchdown in 2005 at ProgPower Festival in Atlanta. Manticora was due to tour the USA at the beginning of 2008 with Circus Maximus and Circle II Circle before having to cancel due to the withdrawal of the headliners. Manticora played 2009’s Progpower Scandinavia Festival at Vega in Copenhagen on September 26th. Other bands appearing were Candlemass and Pretty Maids.

Manticora completed work on its seventh full-length album, Safe, at Jailhouse Studios in Horsens, Denmark in the middle of 2010. The album was again produced and mixed by Tommy Hansen. The band was touring Europe that autumn. Denmark-based Manticora signed a deal with ViciSolum Records in 2017 and would release two concept albums on the label. The concept was based on singer Lars F. Larsen horror work. Denmark-based band Manticora released an album, called To Kill To Live To Kill, through ViciSolum Records on August 3rd. Kasper Gram returned in 2019. The two-album concept from 2018 and 2020 accompanied a 334-page novel written by the band's singer Lars F. Larsen), on which the albums were based.

The band was touring Europe in spring 2022. Manticora signed with Mighty Music in early 2023 and was aiming to release a new record in January 2024. In advance, the band uploaded a song and shot a video called Beast Of The Fall. The band was playing concerts in Europe in 2023 including at the Ørland Rockfest. The group announced the Metalized Tour of Denmark alongside Artillery, Demolizer and Exelerate for February 2024. Manticora’s next album Mycelium was out through Mighty Music in January 2024. A lyric video for the song Necropolitans created in Unreal Engine had a “Cthuluian” vibe according to the press release. There was also a video for the song Día De Los Muertos. Christoffer Leth Ingwersen joined as the concert drummer before becoming permanent. He was also in Terrorpy and Crown The Beast. The band was booked for MetalDays festival in 2024.


Reviews

MANTICORA - 8 DEADLY SINS - NIGHTMARE
To be frank, albums like Manticora's 8 Deadly Sins have become a dime a dozen. There is nothing in this Danish band's delivery that makes them worse than their counterparts, but the combination of power metal with the commercialism of background keyboards has just been done to death. To its credit, the quartet is heavier than average with songs like Melancholic and Creator Of Failure borderline thrashing. It is not enough to make one forget the harmonic singing, synthesizers and prevalent melody. Fall From Grace and Enigma, for instance, are just too commercial to be worthwhile to a heavy metal fan.
The album is a concept narrating the story of a dying man in his death bed with the songs cleverly beginning in 1934 and ending in 2004. Again, Manticora is OK as far as bands in the sub-genre go and should be a fine purchase for fans of Blind Guardian. The scene is overcrowded with too many bands, labels and yes-men media to the point of saturation. - Ali "The Metallian"


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