Description

Black vinyl with one side silk screened with the bands logo in gold. Limited 333 copies

Never heard of Mandrah? Dont worry, i hadn’t either. What caught my attention this time was the fact that this was a new act from the creative musician Waldemar Sorychta. As a thrash metal fan in the 80s, and still am, i first come across Sorychta in the German thrash metal act Despair. Since then he has shown up in bands like Enemy of the Sun, Grip Inc. (with Dave Lombardo of Slayer) Eyes of Eden, Dortmunder Jungs and the multinational Metal supergroup Voodoocult (with Phillip Boa, Mille Petrozza, Chuck Schuldiner, Dave Lombardo). I cant honestly say that i have been a fan of them all, some i have and others have been harder to digest. But what i have learnt is that Sorychta aren’t afraid to try out new things instead of following the same path as others. So when i saw that he had a female vocalist in his new band i got more curious. I was blown away by the first Avatarium album. It was so heavy and obvious a Leif Edling (Candlemass) album done differently. So could Sorychta do something familiar yet so different. What will strike you first, when hearing The Other Side, is of course the really heavy groove which isn’t far from what Grip Inc could produce. But most of all its the voice of Cornelia Schmitt. Im so glad it wasn’t another one of those opera trained ladies that started to pop up everywhere after the success of bands like Nightwish. This Danish-German singer has a powerful voice that can go from being a bit punkish to a graceful beauty. The Other Side EP runs for 20 minutes that leaves you wanting more. This is definitely a really good start and hopefully this will lead up to a full length album. Crushing metal riffs with a heavy groove and a power voice and presented on a beautiful vinyl strictly limited to just 333 numbered copies. What more could you ask for? Get it while you still can.

Track list:
1. The Wedding
2. Black Light
3 The Other Side
4. Trailer From Hell
5. Know My Name