Idle Hands - Mana (2019)Release ID: 9529
Portland, Oregon based gothic rock band Idle Hands released their debut record, Mana, for all to hear this past May. After multiple listens, one might realize that everything about this band just fits right into the niche they attempt to occupy. Gothic aesthetics mixed with post punk vocals and heavy metal guitar work, combine to create one of 2019’s most accessible records in the heavy rock genre. Idle Hands are taking a romanticized 80s new wave blueprint and writing heavy metal and gothic rock around it. The most obvious example of this would be the song Jackie. A hyper melodic and swiftly played track focusing on the relationship between the narrator and the titular character. Another track towards the end of the album (A Single Solemn Rose) also fits and emphasizes this model perfectly. The vocals of lead singer Gabriel Franco immediately evoke thoughts of The Cure and Joy Division, while the guitar playing sounds like a watered down Iron Maiden. Half the time I felt this combination worked well and created many memorable moments. Tracks like Nightfall, Blade and the Will, and Give Me to the Night play into the youthfulness of the record very well with crystal clear vocal melodies on top of great aggressive guitar riffs and dual guitar licks. The other half of the tracks just failed to show off anything better. Not that any song on here is downright bad, but others are just so obviously better than others that it creates a bit of unevenness to the end product.
Lyrically is where the album suffers. They are not delivered smoothly on tracks like Cosmic Overdrive, and are fairly simple, some could even be considered downright head-scratching. The track Dragon, Why do you Cry? comes to mind. The gloomy and overt melodramatic nature of the track combined with the intermittent narration had taken me out of the experience and left me wondering what drove the writing of the track. Yet still even with these moments, I still find myself having a good time with the record. The saccharine melodies are beyond catchy, and the speed of the guitars tend to get a head bob out of me frequently. Production wise the album is incredibly clean and easy to digest, yet still able to effectively emphasize the atmosphere and imagery of the heavy metal genre. Structurally the album consists of eleven 3 to 4 minute long tracks with simple verse/chorus/verse structures. The instant gratification and easy digestible nature of the album is definitely an advantage. It will assist in allowing it to stand out among a sea of much less melodic affairs in the other major genres of metal.
At the end of the day, not many bands with this kind of sound have broken out and managed to capture an audience as large as they have. While the lacking lyrics and the uneven quality of each track are keeping it from standing out as a great record. Its a solid album that executes its goals very efficiently with some standout results.
Final Score 8.0/10
There seems to be a lot of love coming this album's way at the minute, but I just don't feel it. I was a big fan of 80's gothic rock such as The Mission, The Cult and Fields of the Nephilim, so a band that combines the sound of such gothic luminaries with a metal edge should be right up my street. Unfortunately most of the songs aren't that memorable and made little impact after the opener, which did manage to pique my interest, just for it to subside after a couple more tracks.
