Hanno Klänhardt: Guitars & Vocals
Erinc Sakarya: Drums
Recorded in a live setting at Black Bear Studios, Gainesville, Florida by Ryan Williams
Mantar‘s 2022 LP, Pain Is Forever and This Is The End, saw the German duo bring a sonic richness to their madly heavy blackened death-punk grooves, assisting the record to its position at #2 on Germany’s Official Top 10 album chart. The record added smoother, calmer, more harmonic textures to Mantar’s expanding palette, but on 2024′s Post Apocalyptic Depression, Mantar smash the palette and punch a hole in the canvas.
“We wanted to do EVERYTHING different from the last album,” affirms Hanno. “The last album was very produced. A huge sounding record, clean production. Display of power. That was what we wanted and felt at that time. Now we are trying to destroy what we’ve built up with the last album. There is a certain beauty in disappointing people’s expectations.”
One earful of monster-grooving punk’n'roll opener Absolute Ghost confirms that disappointment is an implausible reaction to the wildly energised righteous blood-shakers assembled here. Mantar have already eaten up the road all over Europe, the US, Japan, Latin America, and South Africa, as well as all the major European festivals and American festivals, but these tunes are destined for especially visceral live connection.
The ethos is clear from the first two words Hanno uses to describe the recording process: “Quick and dirty. We didn’t even bring our own gear to the studio, and just used the equipment that we would find there. There was zero planning involved in the making of this album. We wanted to keep it as primitive as possible. We were more bold this time and literally cut any shit off the songs that we didn’t think was necessary. I think you can hear that playing these new songs is more fun. I feel very connected with my punk roots on this album. Very punk rock production and next to our first album definitely the most raw sounding one.”
Further reconnecting Mantar with the spirit of their 2014 debut Death by Burning, the new front cover is again painted by renowned artist Aron Wiesenfeld, whose haunting aesthetic lends the band such distinctive and striking visual impact. It feels like a band coming full circle, drawing to a close the first ten years of Mantar. “It feels like 100 years to be frank,” Hanno admits. “Neither of us ever thought the band would even get that old. This is the fifth album, which is beyond crazy as we always had a pretty punk rock mentality where we never made any long-term promises. We of course always try to write the best material we can, but for this album the focus was more to transport a certain vibe and atmosphere rather than desperately trying to write a perfect song. I took us back to the making of our first album ten years ago, which is considered a modern classic by some people today. I am convinced that is not only due to good songs but mostly due to an attitude.”
That snarling attitude spits out of the speakers on beautifully titled smash-and-grab volleys like Church of Suck, Rex Perverso and Axe Death Scenario, written in far closer collaboration than is the norm for a two-man band living on different continents (Hanno in America, Erinc in Germany). This, and the super-focused speed of the recording, seemed to act as an emollient corrective after the highly stressful process of making Pain Is Forever… two years ago. “It was the worst time and experience we have had as a band and as friends so far,” recalls Hanno. “The band almost broke up during the making of the last album. So, this album was more some sort of spiritual healing. As a band and as friends. Without any serious plans we wrote twenty songs in a just a couple of days. Some good, some awesome. So, making this record saved our asses, the band and maybe even more than that.”
Hanno provides some useful pointers to the new material’s sound and attitude when asked which records both bandmates agree are the gold standard. Among others, Hanno cites The Jesus Lizard‘s Liar, The Melvins‘ Stoner Witch, Nirvana Bleach, Mudhoney Superfuzz Bigmuff, and L7‘s Hungry for Stink – many of whom were saluted on Mantar‘s lockdown-spawned covers LP Grungetown Hooligans II. This time though, Hanno opted not to mine the lyrical tropes of real-world trauma, social ills, and psychological turmoil – a merciful decision for his own mental health.
“I was lucky enough to distance myself again from the downward spiral I’ve been trapped in for the last years caused by a new quality of insanity the world has to offer,” Hanno reveals. “It’s not that I became numb, or at least not completely, but I had zero desire to counteract the world’s madness in any way, especially not with ‘lyrics’ from a rock band. It’s the old game, just open your eyes and lock up your heart and write down what you see. I have no mission to change this world via my band. Maybe I can do that on a personal level, but I have no hope to have any impact on people’s thoughts and minds. People seem to refuse to learn. It’s a circle. Maybe it’s supposed to be this way. Also, why should they learn, especially from ME? Long story short: I was able to get back to my comfort zone and therefore in a weird mindset to write lyrics which cannot be understood as political even with plenty of imagination. I am back to just weird shit basically. Personal thoughts, observations, and just good old fashioned grim fun. I have no desire to spread a certain agenda, message or ‘teach’ people a lesson. The arrogance of bands doing so is hard to take. I don’t wanna be one of them. Also, I don’t judge. I report. That’s all.”
As for that intensely full-on title, Hanno defines Post Apocalyptic Depression as “the feeling you get after a mass hysteria. The feeling you get once you invested all your power in a mass hypnosis and suddenly realize there won’t be no salvation. Also, it refers to a very one-dimensional and basic human feeling we all know. Being just burned out after a very tedious and exhausting period of life. Post Apocalyptic Depression also can be taken as the insight that people just refuse to learn. Besides that, it’s a damn catchy and cool name for an album that sounds exactly the way these words sound.”
Asked about future ambitions, Hanno is pragmatic. “The band might stick around for a bit, as long it’s fun to play shows and play music together,” he reckons. “There are too many bands out there just slowly fading away. So far, we are still killing it on stage and never put out mediocre music. I think that’s the most important thing. The ‘future’ very often is nothing but hope and expectations and wrong promises. I’d rather stay away from that. I am in no way pessimistic, I’m just trying to protect what we have created. It’s more about the overall legacy than short-term goals and achievements.”
