Irish Progressive Power/Thrash Metal band Leitourgos released their debut album «Slaves to the Master». The album was recorded at “Slane Studios” in Ireland, and was mixed and mastered by Christian Schwarz in Berlin, Germany.
https://leitourgos.bandcamp.com/releases
Leitourgos was originally formed in 1991, but disbanded in 1995 when founding member Pieter Burger joined the thrash metal band Testoricide. The band was reformed in 2018 in Dublin, Ireland and released 2 singles “Woe to the Vanquished” and “Book of Invasions”.
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The lights go down and the intro starts to play….
The band enters the stage and I am so thrilled to see that former bass player Kasper Gram is once again back on stage together with MANTICORA (this time as a stand-in)
Vocalist and frontman Lars Larsen runs onto the stage and shows everyone that his energy level is higher than ever. Anyone that has seen Manticora live before knows that Lars really puts on a show, and tonight is no exception.
Lars has a voice that is very special, and I guess you can say that you either love it or hate it, there is no in between, and personally I have grown to become a lover of it.
On the new album, To Kill to Live to Kill, the band seems to have grown and taken a step forward, and that includes the vocals.
This album, based on the book written by Lars himself, tends to take his vocals to a different level. His singing is much more emotional, and that can also be heard in this evening’s live show.
I am stunned by the way MANTICORA interact together as a band, and also bringing the crowd into the story of the songs performed from their latest album, which is a horror story.
Lars Larsen jumps around like a maniac over the stage making “stabbing” motions towards the other band members who all seem to have a blast.
Watching this band live brings a huge smile to my face – even though many of their lyrics are quite scary – because they seem to really enjoy playing live together.
All band members know their craft, and the feeling I get is pure joy! The energy, the musicality, the story, the interaction both among the members, but also towards the crowd is mind-blowing!
I have seen MANTICORA live before, but this show is by far the best I have seen them perform! The only reason they don’t get 10/10 from me is that there are some issues with the sound, which makes the experience slightly less than perfect.
I have now decided to actually buy and read the book, that their new album is based upon – I just hope I can sleep without nightmares after reading it.
If you have not yet experienced MANTICORA live I can highly recommend that you catch their show at CopenHell 2019. I am sure they will give you a show you will never forget!
In hindsight singer Lars Larsen comments on the show:
Damn it was nice to end our European tour on the home ground in Copenhagen, more specifically Hvidovre! A huge stage where we could deliver the full show from the tour and a feeling of being at home in the living room with friends. It doesn’t get any better.
