Road To Manila is a five-piece melodic hardcore/metalcore band from Denmark. Their forthcoming release, Distance, is 22 minutes of upbeat music that is full of energy and excellent riffs and leads.
The EP opens with “Faults”, an incredible track that Road To Manila made into a music video a month ago. The first thing that I noticed is that the guitars, both lead and rhythm, sound like a mix of well-known melodic hardcore bands Counterparts and Hundredth, and at times, It Prevails. This can be heard early on in “Faults” and several more times throughout Distance. “Home” opens with a riff that immediately reminds me of It Prevails and the track continues to put off that vibe for the remaining two minutes. “Home” is my favourite track on the EP because it’s very melodic and there is a little breakdown that spices things up near the middle of the song.
The third track, “Lifted”, shows a different side to the band; a more aggressive melodic/progressive hardcore style. “Lifted” is much slower paced than the rest of the album but it’s still full of passion. It was around this time, though, that I noticed that Distance is well above average instrumentally, but the vocals aren’t quite as impressive on it. They aren’t bad by any means, but the vocal range is minimal and they become monotonous.
The interlude, “Sleep”, makes me want to do exactly that. It’s a very calming track with beautiful guitar melodies, relaxing and slow-paced drumming, and a soundclip. On their own, these things aren’t very special at all, but when they’re all combined and utilized as they are in “Sleep”, it sounds fantastic.
This is all just the tip of the iceberg, though. The other tracks (“Distant” and “1984”) are very strong as well and they each bring something new to the table. Not necessarily new to the genre, but new to Distance. If this is any indication of what’s to come from Road To Manila, I’m excited to hear more music from them.
Links: Facebook
