Idle Hands: Mana (2019)

When was the last really great gothic metal record?  Moonspell?  Type O Negative?  Paradise Lost?  Can we consider Cradle of Filth?  Eh, probably not on Cradle of Filth.  They are kind of their own beast.  My point is that gothic metal seems to be a genre that has fallen by the wayside for the most part since it had kind of a heyday in the late 1990's/early 2000's.  Moonspell is still decent enough, but most other bands have disbanded or worse (R.I.P. Peter Steele).

That brings us to Portland's Idle Hands, and, wait a minute.  Another Portland band?  Damn right, I could do a whole month with Portland bands lately.  Idle Hands has released their debut full-length album earlier this year after a well-received EP from last year.  I saw a lot of hype leading up to this release with many calling it a possible Album of the Year.  I think a lot of the hype has to do with the fact that Idle Hands plays a genre that is mostly M.I.A. in the last several years.  But the album is actually damn good.

One thing that Idle Hands does remarkably well is striking a balance between gothic rock and metal.  Vocalist Gabriel Franco's crooning voice sounds like a cross between The Cure's Robert Smith and Moonspell's Fernando Ribeiro.  The guitar leads are light and airy, but the heavy metal influence is obvious.  The band also manages some truly catchy hooks and songs like "Give Me to the Night" and "Nightfall" stay with the listener long after the album has ended.

The second half however is a bit weaker, abandoning most of the aggression and the metal riffing prevalent on the first half.  The band sounds much more gothic rock, which is fine, if that is what you are into.  The songs are still melodic, somber and very catchy.  They just do not hit as hard as those on the first half.

This really is a damn good album.  I don't yet have any clue where it will end up on my end of the year list, but it does produce some of the catchiest songs of the year.  This would fit in well on a playlist with Tribulation.