Maniak from Falun, Sweden are here with evil fithy raw speed metal! They bring back the sound of Belo Horizonte 1985 mixed with the legendary german mid 80's violent speed metal sound done right all the way!


Our take: Debut EP from this old school-sounding metal band from Falun, Sweden. I’ve never been 100% clear on what constitutes “speed metal,” but maybe it’s an appropriate descriptor for these five rippers whose sound is steeped in the 80s underground. It’s sort of blackened, but also thrashy… the comparison that came to my mind was Sodom circa In the Sign of Evil, but Bathory’s first album or even raw South American classics like Sarcofago’s Inri or Sepultura’s Bestial Devastation are solid reference points too. Like those records, this places raw brutality front and center, but still conjures a dark, cultish atmosphere. While riffs are generally very simple and brutal, the songs are lengthy and well-arranged, which along with some very strong solos (see “Total Blitzkrieg”) betrays there’s more musicality in the mix than you might expect based on the aesthetic. Long story short, though, this rips.