Trancending Bizarre? is a blackish, deathish ensemble from Greece who have cloaked their music with a gothic feel that sounds like Dimmu Borgir. In some sense. With The Serpent Manifolds they’ve released their second effort.

 

The most notable reference this band’s put in their bio has to be Danny Elfman. He’s the guy who composed movie soundtracks for blockbusters such as Spider Man and Mars Attacks. As well as The Simpsons. What the fuck. But there is some sense to this, since Trancending Bizarre sound fairly cinematic with the thick layer of orchestral parts that have been incorporated.

 

Or have they? Well, not really. Like many metalbands the whole orchestral thing is worked out pretty well, but never fits into the musical puzzle. Just like the later Dimmu Borgir stuff, it sounds like two separate pieces of music playing along side each other. This works fine for Borgir’s horde of fans so not everyone will be bothered by it, but if it’s not your bag: be warned. It will get you annoyed.

 

So leaving the discussion of wether or not to include these ‘instruments’, this album is quite an enjoyable listen. The songs keep a good pace throughout the album without tiring the listener out, and offering a wide enough variety to actually give it another go for more than let’s say five times, which is a rarity in the stuff metalrage receives most of the time.

 

It’s obvious these guys are not the every day bored assholes who decided to record an album in the basement. They’ve delivered a well produced, passionately written and recorded slab of metal that will rather divide their listeners in two groups who either dig the cinematic approach or hate it, rather than people who think it sucks or rules. It’s a more than decent addition to a death ‘n black collector’s cd collection. Worth checking out at least.