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Mantra Sunrise — Mantra Sunrise
(Tributary 222502-1, 1993/2000, CD)

by Cesar Montesano, Published 2006-05-01

Mantra Sunrise Cover art

Another brainchild from John Miner of Art Rock Circus. The bulk of the sound ekes in time with the style of 80s album-oriented rock and a leaning towards tuneful new wave vocalization. Overall, this band can also be fairly well tagged as a melodic pop progressive affair. Exhibiting a bit of twang in a spot, akin to Timbuk 3, we see an extension of intermingled possibilities with stadium rockers like the Allman Brothers and maybe even ZZ Top. That is not the norm and only lasts a few minutes. Halfway through, we have another anomalous section, in comparison to the whole, marking a stake in the namesake and taking us through a mantric excursion. Spiced with latter-day Dead Can Dance moments, we are led into the album's twenty-minute opus. Echo and the Bunnymen antics crop up in a few places of thematic development. The guitars are heavier here than with his other concurrent outfit and exhibit a bit of reverb. Supportive drumming is accompanied by growling bass lines. This methodology is punctuated with interludes of pastoral early 70s folk singer-songwriter styled instrumental acoustic guitar strumming.

Filed under: New releases, Issue 33, 2000 releases, 1993 recordings

Related artist(s): Mantra Sunrise

 

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