manichae

Manichae are a heavy metal band who concentrate on writing original songs, with an extremely wide range of influences. Manichae was formed by the two guitarists, Andy MacDonald and Paul Thompson in Nottingham in the summer of 1997 as a backlash against the blandness of the then current rock music scene. Their philosophy was "No one seems to be making the kind of music we like any more, so we'd better make it ourselves." Andy's thrash, goth and even glam rock influences strangely coalesced with Paul's predominantly classic rock taste to create an atmospheric, heavy sound. Manichae only really got going in 2002 with the recruitment of a full rock line up, including keyboard player. New vocalist Paul Hughes ("Mango" to avoid confusion) brought a wealth of lyrical experience with him, and his love of heavy, grungy metal had an immediate effect on the band's sound. In 2003, bass player Steve Beresford joined, bringing to the band his well-defined, driving bass style, and also displayed a talent for writing lyrics. By the end of 2004, after over two years of gigging, the Manichae line up was consolidated by the loss of keyboard player, both simplifying the sound and extending the range, and replacement of the original drummer with new boy Carl Nicholls, whose powerhouse style has reinforced Manichae's already powerful sound. The interval between the original drummer and his replacement encouraged the band to work out acoustic arrangements for most of their material. Manichae are a captivating live act, always building on the strength of their ever-growing repertoire, and their philosophy of "never writing the same song twice" means that they are always sounding fresh. At a Manichae gig, you can expect to hear a range of vigorous metal and laid-back heavy rock with haunting lyrical imagery