Mantas

Relapse's Death reissue campaign is certainly exhaustive, as this collection of material from Death main man Chuck Schuldiner's pre-Death act, Mantas, proves. It's all demos and rehearsals (and live stuff, if you get the double-disc version) and, man, is it ever raw. It's fun, with spirit and nostalgia galore, but due to the incredibly raw "production qualities," this is certainly one for Death die-hards only. Even telling any given song apart from the next is a difficult chore and adding to the confusion/exhaustion, there are only a few actual; songs, repeated as different versions/sessions. This is a tough slog, one worthy only for the novel glimpses of a young, naïve band bashing it out in the rehearsal room back in a beautiful time for the genre. But if we're being honest, it's hard as hell to actually listen to and enjoy.