Those lovely people at Cherry Red Records have put together a rather swanky reissue of the 1988 Mantas LP, ‘Winds of Change’. We all know Jeff ‘Mantas’ Dunn as the guitarist in black metal pioneers Venom. ‘Winds of Change‘ was released when Mantas had left Venom, and he almost left the music business completely.

We all know the influence that Venom had on the speed/thrash metal genre. The band were cited by Metallica, Slayer, etc., and their influential power helped form the Norwegian black metal movement in the ‘90s.

‘Winds of Change’ is as far away from the Venom sound as you can imagine. What we have here is an AOR album with parptastic keyboards, melodic vocals, and God-awful electronic drums. Opening track Let it Rock gallops along and sounds like something from a low-budget ‘80s kung fu film soundtrack. The album really hasn’t aged well, I mean, there’s some decent musicianship on display and vocalist Pete Harrison belts the (dodgy) lyrics out admirably, but it’s all a bit cringe.

Tracks like ‘Deceiver’ sound like what many metal bands did in the mid to late ‘80s; they jumped on the melodic bandwagon and softened their sound. Saxon are a classic example of this. However, it just sounds contrived and forced. ‘King of the Ring’ has a decent enough shout-along chorus, but those bloody electronic drums are so overpowering. The mix is muddy and really affects the listening experience.

There are a few bonus tracks, including a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Green Manalishi’. The package is well put together with extensive liner notes and some great pictures. If you’re looking for Black Metal, then maybe Mantas of 1988 isn’t for you. If its somethingsofter, more melodic and to complete a set, then jump in.

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Author: Kenny Kendrick