{"id":9073,"date":"2023-05-05T14:15:27","date_gmt":"2023-05-05T12:15:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/?p=9073"},"modified":"2025-11-30T11:49:58","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T10:49:58","slug":"m-opus-at-the-mercy-of-manannan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/cd-recensie\/m-opus-at-the-mercy-of-manannan\/","title":{"rendered":"M-Opus \u2013 At The Mercy Of Manann\u00e1n"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Irish progressive rock band M-Opus drew inspiration from Irish mythology for their third album, ‘At The Mercy Of Manann\u00e1n’. The Sea God Manann\u00e1n was the king of the ‘Other World’. The album is about sailors who encounter ancient Celtic gods during a dangerous mission. As with their previous albums, their inspiration comes from the 1970s, this time 1972. ‘At The Mercy Of Manann\u00e1n’ is their first album released as a four-piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Setting Off’ is a melancholic opening track. Despite the quiet flow, there is a fair amount of detail in the music. The distribution between highs and lows is fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can already hear the 70s influences during the intro of ‘Riverflow’. During the vocal parts, the music is a bit calmer in its structure, this forms a good harmony with the voice of Jonathan Casey, who is also keyboardist and bassist. The vocal parts are interspersed with extended instrumental parts. These are both subdued, and proggy pieces. The latter includes a nice amount of bass and keys. Through the sound of rippling water, it flows into the instrumental ‘Whirlpool’. Here, quite a lot comes at you. Initially, you hear a lot of keys, interspersed with dynamic drumming. Moreover, you hear very good guitar playing. This track ends very calmly. The mysterious intro of ‘To The Other Side’ suits it perfectly. So do the acoustic guitar sounds and the calm vocals. There are nice details and several (cool) changes. From the music alone, you don’t really feel what story is behind it. You need the lyrics for that. Fortunately, Jonathan sings pretty clearly, besides, you can read the lyrics along. But even without listening to the lyrics, you can enjoy the vocals and music. Just before the end, there is a surprising transition to a minimalist piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Na Bru\u00edda\u00ed’ is rousing in style. But singing along, only few will be able to. Because this song is sung in Irish. Especially during the extended instrumental piece, there are surprising changes in tempo and volume. Sometimes the rhythms seem to go against each other, but the balance is maintained. At times, quite a lot comes at you, this song is so beautifully arranged!
Among all the prog, the beautiful, clear sound of the cymbals still stands out. Everywhere the sound is good, this makes the layers and details stand out beautifully. This can also be heard in ‘Valley Of Elah’. This is perhaps the most accessible song on the album, and during a live concert will certainly call for audience interaction. The atmosphere of ‘Scaling Novas’ matches this nicely. At moments, the vocals are layered, sometimes interspersed with, for instance, organ playing. Everything is nicely spread over the headphones. The end flows calmly into the instrumental ‘Carnivale’. Also this final track has unusual but captivating rhythms, twists, sounds and details. This remains until the very last second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, this third album by M-Opus is very special. The structure of the songs, as mentioned earlier, is very good. The cool guitar playing is very cutting at times. A lot of keys can be heard. But bass and drums\/percussion are also amply present. The ’70s roots can be heard again, but do not dominate. ‘At The Mercy Of Manann\u00e1n’ is complex, proggy, yet accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(90\/100)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social media<\/strong>:
Website: M-Opus
Facebook: M-Opus<\/a>
Bandcamp: M-Opus<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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