Mania - Changing Times (1989)

Changing Times was the first and last full-length effort released by the sadly obscure German act Mania, following up the Wizard of the Lost Kingdom EP from early 1988. It could easily be considered both a triumph and a tragedy, because while it improves upon the prior release in both the songwriting and production territories, it leaves the scar of potential upon the listener's ears, never to be stitched (unless you count Klauke's later, similar band Abraxas), only scratched until eternity has come to pass or some grandiose reboot of the material universe. 'Changing Times', indeed, for once the album had seen its limited release through Noise Records, tucked into the shallow end of a roster of overwhelmingly talented bands, three of the members would evacuate Mania, leaving behind just a few to struggle and ultimately fail to produce.

A few of the qualifying hurdles from the debut remain, manifest primarily through Klauke's vocals, which retain their nasal and often nauseating approach. However, when the man is on fire, he truly destroys any of his work on the previous EP, and you really get the sense that he's a knife waiting to be sharpened (which he is, to an extent, in Abraxas). The guitar tone, on the other hand, has readily improved since Wizard of the Lost Kingdom, with a less processed distinction that gives a warmer appeal to the songs. The segues between cleaner guitars and distorted guitars as in "No Way Back" seem to function well, and Didy Mackel remained one of the more interesting bass players in the prototype years of the modern power metal genre, hammering his strings with beautiful ballast, clearly born of progressive leanings.

The "Prelude" here is not so cheesy as "Muffty's Arrival" from the EP, instead offering a warm and welcome sequence of clean guitars joined in brooding synthesizers and a tranquil but cautionary lead before the listener is confronted with the brick house, dark power metal of "The Expulsion". Mackel's contorted bass lines give the track a similar feel to Watchtower, who would release their amazing Control and Resistance this same year (same label), though Mania is not nearly so complex or as adept at dragging you into the world of the lyrical theme. Still, the chorus is great here, and Klauke gives a quality performance throughout. "Turn Towards the Light" joins writhing, speed metal mutes to bigger emotional chords to create an effect not like the material on Scanner's sophomore Terminal Earth, but the vocals are inconsistent.

This is followed by Mania's first power ballad, "No Way Back", which is competent for this style of song, somewhere between Scorpions and Queensryche, with Klauke lending some of his lower range, frankly superior to most of his shrieking heights. "Be Strong" is an average speed metal number with some of those very shrieks. I like the darker feel to the chords and the sharper, piercing vocals, but the track is probably the weakest on the album and never really goes anywhere you'd like it to. "To the End of the World" opens with a Judas Priest bass pump, and you don't hear many power metal tracks about Arctic expeditions, so there is some novelty, while "The Vision" sees Klauke screaming at a Warrell Dane pitch, though he can't seem to sustain it for all that long. Ditto for the venomous "Violent Time", and I'd also point out the corny if well-meaning "We Don't Need War" as a strong point, though "Gambler" is average at best.

There is a far greater level of consistency to Changing Times that makes it the pick of the band's litter, though Mania produced so few offspring that this might not be so much of a compliment. If you can track down the CD version, you will conveniently also have access to the band's Wizard of the Lost Kingdom EP, all in one place. There are a number of small details I really love about this album, like the great cover art, a robotic fist drawing down the veil of history to reveal a glimmering future scape of steel monoliths. It lends the impression that this might be a science fiction speed metal epic like a Hypertrace. That's not exactly the case, sadly, but the lyrics do dabble in several adventurous subjects, despite their largely generic, cliche titles. In a year that produced great Noise titles like Terminal Earth, Fool's Game or Secrets in a Weird World, it is easy to see how many would pass Changing Times by. It's not nearly as catchy, well-written or distinct, and yet I've always valued it as the curious catalyst to a grand career that might have been.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

Mania - Wizard of the Lost Kingdom EP (1988)

Having been an extremely avid collector of the Noise Records roster in the 80s, I often found myself salivating over every release the label would muster, and thus every new band name to appear was a thrill to seek out. Mania was not one of their most successful outfits, but nonetheless when their name appeared on the Doomsday News II compilation in '89 alongside some of my favorite bands like Rage, Watchtower, Coroner, Mordred, Vendetta, and so forth, I was compelled to immediately track down their records, beginning with their EP from the prior year, Wizard of the Lost Kingdom (this had the song "Break Out" from the compilation).

While I wasn't as bowled over by this as most Noise releases of the period, I found a tasteful and competent effort of melodic speed/power metal with some similarities to label mates Scanner, but with an added level of intricacy to the guitars and less of that raw, shrieking power that dominated that band's debut Hypertrace. Another obvious comparison would be Helloween, also from the Noise roster, but there are some differences in the vocals and bombast of the riffing. Speaking of the vocals, they may prove the one barrier to entry for new fans exposed for the first time. Chris Klauke has a high, crystal range which is slightly marred by his accent and an oft overblown tendency to remain in the same, higher register when a more diverse span of octaves might have better suited a song. Once in awhile he'll spike up into a higher pitched scream, but for the most part he's wandering just below the shrieking of say, Peavy of Rage.

Wizard of he Lost Kingdom features five originals, book-ended by an intro an outro known as "Muffty's Arrival" and "Muffty's Departure". "Arrival" is driven by synth sort of like the intro to Helloween's "Halloween", bridging into a sequence of chords and pumping bass line that herald the fairly fast, melodic rush of the title track. While perhaps not so endearing as the work of the band's closest peers (all mentioned in the previous paragraph), the track soundly engages the listener from the verse to the chorus, in which Klauke climaxes with a shriek. The lead sequence cycles a little too briefly through a classical influence, and I don't love the vocal lines through the entirety of the track, but otherwise it's decent. "Night of the Blade", on the other hand, is superior, a slower paced, slamming power metal warning in which Klauke's soaring, biting vocals seem better suited.

After this, the EP continues to pick up, with the delightful power anthem "Gods of Fire", spears of ascending and descending neo-classical guitar lines drawing out a glorious mysticism, while "Under the Sign of the Cross" presents a volley of mid-paced, thrashing fare with some interesting time breaks and a bass that crashes right up against the processed guitar tones. "Break Out" follows, and it's arguably the best track here, with some fluid bass and an edgy, progressive tone to the opening chords before the almost creepy verse patterns erupt. Klauke's vocals are a little loose here, and might have used an additional layer of polish, but despite the strange nasality I find the chorus and riffs here most effective of anything on the release, in particular the bridge and leads.

Mania were not quite up to the level of their close neighbors here, but as a fresh burst of proto-modern power metal, it's a worthwhile curiosity to anyone not put off by heavily accented vocalists or the production of the day. The guitars do feel rather too processed through the album, and might have benefited from more of a raw power that Rage or Scanner was using, but at the same time they give the EP a pretty distinct feeling, and jive well with both Klauke and bass layer Didy Mackel. Wizard of the Lost Kingdom has its small, characteristic flaws, but since it was later released as ad addition to the following, better Changing Times album, then it is worth checking out if you're fascinated by melodic German speed metal with imagination, like Scanner or Reactor.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]