With studio album Alienized due 14th February, melodic metal act Mantric Momentum issue new single and video, ‘The Highest Mountain’, ahead of its release via Frontiers Music Srl.
“On our second album, Alienized, we continue to build on the foundation made from the first album: a mix of heavy riffs, twin guitars, melodic vocals and massive choruses,” commented guitarist Christer Harøy.
About the new single, he added: “We wanted to write an anthem-esque song; a driving heavy tune, still very accessible with hooks to sing along to.”
Centred around vocalist Terje Harøy (Pyramaze) and multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Harøy (Divided Multitude, Crossnail, Teodor Tuff), debut album Trial By Fire raised interest within melodic metal’s audience, and Alienized is said to feature “an even more bombastic production” courtesy of Denmark’s Jacob Hansen.
The initial idea for Mantric Momentum first saw the day of light in 2011, when Harøy co-wrote a song with Hansen. The project was slow to come to life though, due to the instrumentalist’s duties with his aforementioned other bands.
Their first single, ‘Awaiting Tomorrow’, was finally released in 2017 along with the track ‘Immortal’, and featured guest appearances from Yannis Papadopoulos (Beast In Black), Truls Haugen (Circus Maximus), Joey Vera (Fates Warning), and Ketil A Jensen. 2020’s ‘Temple Of My Fears’ single saw Harøy playing all instruments while featuring Ralf Scheepers on vocals. A third single, ‘Shattered’, was released in 2021 and featured Netta Laurenne (Smackbound, Laurenne/Louhimo) vocally.
With these songs out there in the world, Harøy got the itch to make a full-length album and this time he wanted a full-time singer and permanent member, so he brought in his cousin and great friend, the Norwegian powerhouse Terje Harøy, who fronts Pyramaze. Since they had been working together on numerous projects and bands together previously, it was a natural fit.
Alienized features the tracks: ‘Prelude To Take-Off’, ‘Resilience’, ‘Alienized’, ‘The Highest Mountain’, ‘The Light’, ‘Come Undone’, ‘Time Is My Ally’, ‘Remember’, ‘Sirens’ Call’, ‘A Stronger Stance’ and ‘Barricades’ and can be ordered here.
In addition to the Harøys, with Christer playing guitars, bass and drums, there are guest appearances from Frank Nordeng Røe (Drums on tracks 2 and 11), Jimmy Hedlund (Guitar solo on tracks 7 and 8) and Magnus Karlsson (Orchestration on track 1).
You can watch the official video for ‘The Highest Mountain’ here at RAMzine.
