Fuzz Manta - Smokerings
(Bad Deal Records)
From Aural Innovations October 2009 update
The Danish five piece hard rock band, Fuzz Manta, has been playing the local Copenhagen scene for the last 3-4 years and finally has released their debut CD. It was recorded at a studio in Christiania in 2008 and features 10 tracks in 50 minutes and comes in a very nice digipack. The CD starts off with the fast paced and hard rockin’ Case of Glass. It gives you a taste for the heavy stoner riffs the band can lay down and Lene, the singer, has a bit of an effect on the vocal on this track. Night Fright is one of the bands old songs and it is a very good rendition and one of the stand out tracks on the CD, with its slower heavy sound and pace. The Killer is a slower almost ballad like track and features some really nice classic rock guitar solos. Strange Day is another fast paced rock and roll track with a nice melodic thread through it and a heavy bass line that dominates the mix at times and nearly drowns the guitars! Desire features some really cool dual harmony guitars and also dual layered vocals that give it a bit more of a psychedelic and mysterious feel. Cool and different song. The title track, Smoke Rings is another uptempo rocker with a great guitar riff and melodic streak. Mysterious Thoughts is a bluesier track that reminds me of Cactus a bit. Sickness has a doomy start to it and a very fuzzed out guitar and heavy low end that nearly drowns out all instruments (on my stereo). The track then turns into a kick ass rocker. Who sees You, is the longest track on the CD at 6½ minutes and is a slow bluesy song with some nice laid back soloing from both Freddy and Morgan and additional organ playing. Over the Mountain ends the CD like it started, rocking out!
This is pretty damn cool CD and the first on the new Bad Deal Records label. I hope the band can achieve a better sound on the next one. Buy it now!
Check out the bands myspace page at: http://www.myspace.com/fuzzmanta
Check out the Bad Deal Records site at: http://www.baddealrecords.com
Reviewed by Scott Heller