Mantar Post “Cross the Cross” Video; German Tour Starts Tonight
It seems reasonable to assume that German duo Mantar filmed their new video when they were in New York last year on tour with Conan (review here). Considering that their new album, Ode to the Flame, was just recently released — it’s their first for Nuclear Blast, second overall behind a 2015 debut, Death by Burning (review here) — it’s a point of interest because that would mean that at very least the song was in the can since last May, when the show was at Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. Seems like kind of a long time to hold onto it. One doesn’t usually think of patience when it comes to Mantar, but maybe we should.
The song is “Cross the Cross,” and it’s telling that the very first thing you see in the video is the cover of Illmatic by Nas. As the two-piece get followed around by Death — two Deaths, actually — the clip itself owes a lot of its look and feel to classic hip-hop. Directed by Dave Barbaree is has the wide-angle walking shots, gestures and stuff being thrust at the camera that one might’ve seen on MTV 20-plus years ago. I’m not sure what happens in rap videos these days, if that’s a still a thing, but it’s kind of hard not to be reminded of stuff like Biohazard from that era that also basked in hip-hop culture and translated some of those aesthetics to a heavy aggro push.
I guess the key difference there is Biohazard also borrowed liberally from rap in their music at the time, whereas Mantar remain as fire-spewing as ever, if not quite as rawly produced.
It’s an interesting clip. Makes me miss New York. Check it out below, followed by Mantar‘s German tour dates, which start tonight. They’re also playing all the festivals. Yup, all of ’em.
Dig:
Mantar, “Cross the Cross” official video
Ode To The Flame is the nihilistic new full-length from Northern Germany-based infernal metal duo, MANTAR. Out now on Nuclear Blast, the record is currently available in CD, vinyl (black and gold – the latter of which is only available from the Nuclear Blast Mailorder), and digital formats HERE.
MANTAR will inundate their native Germany with an exclusive run of shows this month which kicked off this past weekend. The band will also level the stages of several festivals throughout the Summer months and make its way to North America with confirmed appearances at Heavy Montreal, Psycho Las Vegas and California Deathfest. Additional live infiltrations are in the plotting stages.
MANTAR:
4/20/2016 FZW Club – Dortmund, DE
4/21/2016 Schlachthof – Wiesbaden, DE
4/22/2016 B58 – Braunschweig, DE
4/23/2016 Stockrock – Hagen, DE
4/28/2016 Desertfest – Berlin, DE
4/29/2016 Desertfest – Berlin, DE
4/30/2016 Desertfest – London, UK
5/05/2016 Beta – Copenhagen, DE
5/07/2016 Volksbad – Flensburg, DE
5/13/2016 Post Valley – Gießen, DE
5/14/2016 Doomed Gatherings @ Glazart – Paris, FR
5/27/2016 Freak Valley Festival – Siegen, DE
5/28/2016 Visbek Rockt – Visbek, DE
6/03/2016 Metalhead Meeting – Bucharest, RO
6/05/2016 Metalfest Open Air – Plzen, CZ
6/18/2016 Hellfest – Clisson, FR
7/01/2016 Tuska – Helsinki, FI
7/16/2016 Gefle Metal Festival – Gävle, SE
8/07-09/2016 Heavy Montreal – Montreal, QC
8/17-20/2016 Summer Breeze – Dinkelsbühl, DE
8/26-28/2016 Psycho Las Vegas – Las Vegas, NV
10/14-16/2016 California Deathfest – Oakland, CA
