Mangog from Baltimore, MD
has been on my radar for quite some time now. Have been fortunate to see them
crush it on stage a few times, so I was ecstatic when their debut EP, 'Daydreams
Within Nightmares' came out in 2015. And now it's here, the first
full-length 'Awakens' and I'm even more ecstatic. I mean, how couldn't I
be? The momentum Mangog created with 'Daydreams Within Nightmares' has
been worked into 'Awakens' perfectly. The excellent blend of Maryland doom and metal
the band favors is not only well-played and brilliantly executed, it is also
done with so much laissez-faire and chutzpah. Making the end result...well,
amazing, truly amazing.
Having a wealth of talent
and experience within their ranks, Mangog displays ‘Awakens’ in the best possible way. The music flows with such ease
regardless the tempos employed and the lyrics are masterfully crafted and
enhanced with the music. Think original Maryland
doom with focus on internal struggles, self-deceit, mistreatment and
disparagement and all chapters of ‘Awakens’
dark tales are covered. However, if I am not completely off the mark,
Mangog are offering a way out of the misery. What I mean is if you put all the
songs together and what they say against the title, the band offers light at
the end of the tunnel. It’s as if the songs are steps to guide you on the way
to resolve. The album helps you to see what ails you, to open up your eyes and
see what is going on and work your way out of it.
To make the lyrics hit
home, the band moves seamlessly between tempos. By moving back and forth like
this really lifts up the different emotions Mangog aims for. There are
compositions which are slow, dark and sinister like ‘Time Is A Prison’, ‘Of Your Deceit’ and ‘A Tongue Full Of Lies’. Others are faster heavy doom rockers like ‘Meld’, ‘Into Infamy’, ‘Daydreams Within
Nightmares’ and ‘Modern Day
Concubine’. ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ is
Sabbath-y in approach musically while ‘Ab
Intra’ is a massive soul searching odyssey, not for the faint-hearted.
Something else which the
band use to great aplomb is the sharing of the vocals between Myke Wells and
Bert Hall. Myke is the lead vocalist and the way he belts out the gut wrenching
lyrics makes you feel you’re in the gutter, that he is singing what you feel.
Guitarist Bert steps in on occasion and handles some lead vocals and
spoken-singing parts – in lack of better words – and this dual action makes the
songs stand out even more. ‘Ab Intra’
is the best example of this where Bert starts off and when Myke takes over, the
music kicks in harder making the song explode. Fantastic!
Mangog who are apart from
Myke and Bert, Darby Cox, bass guitar, and Mike Rix, drums, are on to something
truly amazing. In a day and age where we are flooded with music you have to
really stand out to even get any kind of attention. Mangog surpasses this
elegantly simply by writing and recording fantastic music. Might sound
superfluous to say that but they know what they are doing and they know how to
get their ideas and visions across. And when you have this talent the music is
free-flowing, uninhibited and in-yer-face all at the same time. And personally,
I can’t ask for more. Thank you, Mangog!
-Swedebeast
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