Some bands just fit their moniker like a glove. Names that are just so fitting you could never imagine them being called by any other handle. Metallica are one such act, Mastodon and Slayer too, and you can now add Manatees to that list. A huge aquatic creature in terms of both size and weight, yet incredibly graceful, it's the perfect name for this young Carlisle based trio. If evidence is needed to support this claim then look no further than the opening number of this five song debut release. Clocking in at just under the sixteen minutes mark it's a lumbering giant of a track; as wave after wave of guitars gradually build and relent, with a mixture of distant screams and loud guttural growls adding to the dark atmospherics. Each sprawling effort offers something new to proceedings, be it the Tool-esque monastery vocals of 'ii' or the gentle 'iiii', the only track that comes under the 5 minute barrier, which works well as a largely acoustic interlude.

Mixing elements of drone, metal and prog, at times Manatees manage to recall scene luminaries Neurosis and Old Man Gloom on this gloriously ambitious debut. A release that we're told took a grand total of six months to record, it was time very well spent.

Rating: 3/5 by Dan Jones

Tracklisting

1. i
2. ii
3. iii
4. iiii
5. iiiii

Further links

Manatees on Myspace (myspace.com/manateetheband)

Official myspace of the epic Carlisle band

Motive Sounds.com

Online home of the Carlisle based independent label