Manic Impressions is a significant step forward from
Anacrusis' first two albums, tightening and focusing the songwriting and honing their instrumental work to a razor-sharp edge. That alone would be enough to make them stand out in the progressive metal subgenre -- often criticized for the same excesses as '70s progressive rock, substituting technical flash and aimless "extended" structures for substance and songcraft -- but what's even more impressive is the emotional depth of the album.
Manic Impressions is a study in depression and mental instability, its bleak lyrical worldview grounded in everyday reality and enhanced by the icily clear production and the mechanical precision of the complex compositions. Vocalist
Kenn Nardi's ability to leap between growling rage and ethereal melodicism -- sometimes in the same lyric line -- is complemented by the band's new-found grasp of dynamic shifts, which heighten the songs' dramatic impact. And, on top of all that, nearly every song has at least one memorable vocal melody to go along with the killer riffs --
Anacrusis has a unique melodic sensibility, taking unpredictable directions but always seeming elegantly constructed and evocatively melancholy. The closest comparison is Voivod (without the sci-fi obsession), but the closer one listens, the more it becomes apparent that
Anacrusis' sound is really all its own. Vastly underappreciated upon its initial release,
Manic Impressions (like its follow-up, Screams and Whispers) is essential listening for fans of both thrash and progressive metal. [In 1999,
Manic Impressions was remastered and reissued.] ~ Steve Huey