Manias/Sale Sangre – Blood Covered (2010)

As one of the most brutal albums we have received in quite a while, today we have Manias (a.k.a Sale Sangre) third full-length “Blood Covered”. Hailing from Albuquerque, the place of birth of Infernal Masquerade Webzine, this band plays conventional Death Metal / Grind with a vengeance and an eye for blood and guts, as well can see from the artwork of the CD.

Filled with the traditional witty movie samples, “Blood Covered” features 19 tracks of pure brutality. Let it be clear that Manias it’s not all about barking at the microphone and pounding randomly at their instruments, they can actually craft pretty catchy and crushing songs that will surely be a delight for fans of both Death Metal and Grindcore.

“Blood Covered” starts of with a typical movie sample and quickly explodes into massive drumming, whirlwind guitar riffs and monstrous singing, pretty much the basic Grindcore formula presented in this whole release. One thing that we find refreshing is that songs are short enough to be effective and change things up when they start to get a bit repetitive, making Manias a very economic and direct band. On the other side, we have the band doing some more Death Metal pieces like “Shards of bone”, a song that sounds like early days Cannibal Corpse. This mixture between the two genres is greatly balanced through the release, making it very ‘pleasant’ to listen to.

There is also enough melody presented in tracks like “Thin” and “Common Enemy” to keep things from getting too dull and boring. This allows the band to be more dynamic and sound different through the album, something that Death/Grind bands are not known for. In terms of variety we also have some pretty solid bass guitar solos, like on the track “Decadence Remains”.

Musically, Manias has the right musicians to create such hectic and brutal music. The guitar riffs are very catchy and addictive, the drumming is massive when needed and very detailed when things are slowing down. The vocals are hellish and will surely give nightmares to any new kids listening to this genre. But what makes the band more appealing in our opinion, is the wide range of styles and sounds the use in their songs. This makes them never get monotonous and keep the listener engaged.

Overall, if you are a Death/Grind fan, “Blood Covered” will provide you with your fix of no-holds-bared aural assaults that will make your speakers (and house) rattle. So be sure to go to the band’s website and get a copy of this brutal release.

Release: September 1st, 2010

Country: USA