Mantar believes that fire is the purifying force in the universe, so the German duo does its best to bring that notion to life on second LP Ode to the Flame. Guitarist Hanno and drummer Erinc throttle elements of thrash, doom, and NWOBHM, dragging them down the train tracks with a Motörhead-esque death choogle. What really makes the soaring riffs of “Born Reversed” and blasting boogie of “Cross the Cross” evil is Hanno’s vocal ferocity. The frontman sounds like he eats kittens and gargles the bones. His flame-throwing larynx elevates Ode to the Flame beyond savagery into pure destruction.

***.5

This article appears in August 19 • 2016.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.