Origin: Argentina Release date: February 1, 2012 Label: Las Tias Records Lyrical content: Life, Society, Politics Duration: 54:24 Genre: Groove Metal Over the past time, I’ve spend my time listening to a gift from our Argentinian aunts; Delphoz are the latest South American gem presented by Las Tias Records. With their debut, laden with some high-energy Thrashy Groove Metal, the guys are ready to show the world what they’re worth.

Manifesto stands for energetic Groove Metal, it’s an angry declaration. The connection with Lamb of God and Five FInger Death Punch is quickly made, but if one digs a little deeper into the album, one will find that this connection holds little ground. Delphoz bring us music that is much more diverse, dynamic and driving.

So musically, Manifesto is something to look out for. Rhythm-wise, the band are spot on, and fantastically pleasing to the ear, but I find that the guitar leads miss some proficiency and need some tidying up. Luckily for this album, the leads are thinly dispersed over the songs, and this little hitch doesn’t get too annoying.

The diversity of Manifest is enhanced by the vocals, which are marked by a raspy, mid-pitched scream, supported by some shouting backing-vocals. This combination of lead and backing vocals is very tight, and adds a nice layer to the mix. The Spanish lyrics can be taken as funny, if one tends to be lighthearted, but I’ve always thought that Spanish was quite a harsh language, contrary to other Latin-based languages like French or Italian. I translated some of the lyrics into English, and I found that this record is very solid lyric-wise, with a clear theme and carefully chosen words.
A little detail, which further enhances the variance on Manifesto, comes forth in the 8-minute epic called Grito de Redencion, where they use either a mouth harp, or a didgeridoo in the introduction. Together with the guest-clean vocals by Random lead-singer Raul, they make this track to be one of better tracks on this album.

When I saw the front cover of Manifesto, I was afraid that this record was going to sound to sterile, too artificial and too clean, and to a certain degree that’s true, the production is polished. I’d hoped for something more raw, which would’ve fit the more energetic stule of Delphoz.

In the end, Manifest is a very solid and decent album, there’s a few little things that keep this album from coming up higher and these are insufficient lead guitars and the somewhat boring production. However, for someone who wants a good-to-go, straight up Metal record, which brings a refreshing sound to the Groove Metal-table, Manifesto is the way to go. For me, Delphoz have managed to change my view of the previously mentioned genre, which was generally marked by the likes of Lamb of God, whose work is often dubbed boring. Their new and energetic approach to this genre is very much wanted and certainly make this album worth checking out. 

My Grade: 8.5/10
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