I read somewhere (think it was the German RockHard) that Norwegian Manngaard’s first album was a disaster and that it should be avoided at all cost. I never had the pleasure although a review like that always intrigues me…

Well, no matter how terrible the misdeeds of the past, ‘European Cowards’ is not a complete disaster. Not as such, anyway.

The problem is that it is not really an altogether good album either. It certainly has its moments with brutal, driving riffing like e.g.Part I: Implicit Approval Of Your Uninvited Guests.

And it is exactly in the mid-tempo parts Manngard manage to impress, whereas the fast ‘blast’ sections turn out messy and uncontrolled.

I realise it’s a matter of taste entirely, but it is a problem when you have a singer whose voice tends to annoy more than actually sound cool, and sadly this is the case here. Again, it’s a control issue, I reckon.

There’s definite potential here, but nurturing is definitely needed.