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[7.5/10] Something a hair short of a Lost Horizon/Helloween concoction, Sweden’s Manimal could be better suited just straight ripping off one or the other, but what good would that do? The Swedes keep most of The Darkest Room solid and in the pocket, not straying too far into the LH or ‘Weenie territory, resulting in an above-average, if not tempting power metal affair.
There are some odd songwriting choices here, especially when singer Samuel Nyman is thrust into the spotlight. The man has a stellar set of pipes, of which some major caturwaling is done during opener “Shadows” where he screams to the rafters in a rather robust, booming chorus. Since the band is fond of AOR territory, songs like “The Darkest Room,” “I Am,” and “Ordinary Man” bear the fruits of Nyman’s Daniel Heiman (ex Lost Horizon)-lite vocals.
Perhaps the real sticking point with The Darkest Room is that for every gritty, festival-ready song (i.e. “Shadows” and “Living Dead”), there’s a clunky, almost hodgepodge number like “Dreamers and Fools” and “The Life We Lived.” Not like Manimal is staring at greatness from across the street, but a quick refining and re-focusing of their songwriting approach could reap rewards down the road.
Nevertheless, The Darkest Room is far from workmanlike or traditional. Strange, given just how ready most power metal bands are to be as such, yet The Darkest Room could get some wings (and love) from the Euro power metal crowd, who usually are more forgiving on such matters than us.
www.myspace.com/manimalsweden
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