Metal Shock Finland (World Assault )

Pain Is Forever And This Is The End, the anticipated new full-length from German metal duo MANTAR, is out now on Metal Blade Records.

Earning critical accolades both stateside and abroad, Decibel Magazine hails a, “burning Molotov cocktail of black metal, sludgy hardcore, and classic metal hooks,” adding, “their latest studio album may be their best yet.” Rock Hard writes, “Pain Is Forever… skillfully keeps the balance between brute destructive fury and dense atmosphere in widescreen format with real underground hit potential,” while Metal Injection champions the band’s, “thicker grooves, anthemic refrains, head nodding rhythms and a greater exploitation of the fist-in-the-air-ology school of songwriting.”

In celebration of the release of Pain Is Forever And This Is The End, today MANTAR unleashes a new video for “Grim Reaping.” Offers guitarist/vocalist Hanno Klänhardt of the track, “‘Grim Reaping’ is about the simple insight that you cannot win life. No matter what you do, what you try… death remains the great unifier. And in death we will be genuine and pure.“

View MANTAR‘s previously released video for “Odysseus” HERE and “Hang ‘Em Low (So The Rats Can Get ‘Em)” HERE.

The most diverse and multifaceted MANTAR album to date, with their latest offering, guitarist/vocalist Hanno Klänhardt and drummer Erinc Sakarya take things to an entirely new level. Songs boast more melody and an array of guitar tones, influenced in no small part by the artists the pair covered on 2020’s Grungetown Hooligans II collection which featured MANTAR interpretations of songs from the likes of L7, Mudhoney, Sonic Youth, and The Jesus Lizard, formative bands from their respective youths. “I tried to tweak the guitar sound more according to each individual song and its respective mood,” notes Hanno on the songwriting approach to Pain Is Forever And This Is The End. “We tried to steer away from ‘metal sound’ standards and more in a direction where you can hear different nuances in sound. I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but we never were a part of any scene, therefore we don’t ‘owe’ a certain sound to anyone.” Hanno even sings on occasion, “instead of only screaming like a maniac.“

Lyrically, tracks delve deep, pondering a variety of uncomfortable questions about mortality, spirituality, and the illusion of “belonging” in a world that’s unraveling and growing more disjointed by the day. “People desperately cling to anything that promises you or at least makes you believe that you ‘matter’ in some way,” notes Hanno, “that you are the master of the situation and that everything behaves as your own logic allows. We live in an interesting time where people have an unspeakable longing to find easy explanations to complex questions.“

Pain Is Forever And This Is The End is available on CD, LP, and digital formats. Preview and purchase the record at: metalblade.com/mantar

Founded in 2012, MANTAR stands among the leading forces in extreme metal within the last ten years. Loved by fans and press alike, the band took the world by storm with their truly unique sound, leading them to the Top 10 in the official German album charts with their 2018’s The Modern Art Of Setting Ablaze and sold out shows throughout Europe.

Pain Is Forever And This Is The End serves as MANTAR‘s most realized output yet. With Hanno prolifically writing riffs at his home in Gainesville, Florida – and throwing away whole albums worth of material – and Erinc working in Germany, the record’s creation proved to be a painstaking effort. “Nothing came together easily for this album and I hated most of the process,” Hanno states plainly. “Even though Covid had not much of an impact on us, the general fucked up mood in the world and the industry had an impact on the record. Everything was very tedious, up to a point where I literally questioned everything and we were damn close to quitting the band. With every song I came up with, there was a period at some point where I thought it sucked. Then I had moments where I thought it’s the best we have ever done. It was bipolar in a way. It was rough and it took a serious toll on me and Erinc that I’m still recovering from.”

After recording their instruments on different continents, Hanno and Erinc entered the studio together in Germany to record vocals and backing vocals, respectively, and decided to take a different, more daring route in terms of production: “With the previous albums, I was so focused on making the band sound exactly as we would sound live. That is cool and still important but this time I wanted to make an album that is overall entertaining and not just a forty-five-minute ‘live set.’ We’ve proved countless times that we have no problems at all convincing in a live setting, so I had to gather some courage to ‘produce’ a little more, mostly in order to entertain myself as the songwriter and producer. Still, there were times where I literally wanted to destroy all my music and myself while making this record and I destroyed a lot of equipment. Maybe it was all worth something,” Hanno concludes. “We are still here, and that really does mean something after that ride.“

MANTAR:
Hanno Klänhardt – guitars, vocals
Erinc Sakarya – drums