Originally released by excellent Finnish label Svart and now out stateside via Brutal Panda, Mantar’s metallic onslaught continues in its quest to conquer the Western hemisphere. Despite comprising just two chaps (vocalist/guitarist Hanno Klaenhardt and drummer Erinc Sakarya), ‘Death By Burning’ sounds more like the product of some ravening demon hoard: a muck-edged, poison-dipped slab of metal that mangles together the immediacy of Motörhead, the unworldly rancour of Celtic Frost and sludgier High On Fire inferences. Immediately attention-grabbing and stylistically hard to fault it’s a seamless synthesis of inspirations and influences, and one that fashions a new altar at which to worship while bending its own knee to those who’ve gone before.
