Band:	Manigance
Album:	Ange Ou Démon
Style:	Heavy metal
Release date:	2002
A review by:	Dream Taster

01. En Mon Nom
02. Comme Une Ombre
03. L'Ultime Seconde
04. Utopia
05. Ange ou Démon
06. Fleurs du Mal
07. Dernier Hommage
08. Dès Mon Retour
09. Intégrité
10. Nomade
11. Désobéis
12. Messager

Considering that I'm French and that I love heavy prog metal, I've always been ashamed but the lack of good French bands that are playing this kind of music. Until one day, listening to a metal show on the radio, I heard for the first time this band called Manigance. The song was 'Ange ou Demon' [which is the title track of their first full length album issued in 2002] and it was so powerful and melodic in the same time that I decided to know more about that band. A friend of mine bought the album and after two intense days listening exclusively to this album, I was sold: Ange ou Demon is the best French release ever!

The first thing that could be considered as a Manigance's trademark is the lyrics, written in French [and for a French guy, that rules!] and very well written but also sung with talent. The singer, Didier Delsaux, has THE perfect voice for the heavy prog melodies that are as catchy as they can be. The only band close to that effect that is coming to my mind right now is Vanden Plas [and I know that is also one of Manigance's favorite bands]. Nevertheless, Manigance is heavier due to both guitar players. While Francois Merle [ex-Killers] is more a "pure heavy guitar player", Bruno Ramos is more a technical solo performer. However, both of them play solos with talent and their complicity is obvious. Talking about the musicians, Daniel Pouylau [on the drums] and Marc Duffau [on bass guitar] handle the basis of the songs with power, and you can hear that Marc is obviously a very groovy bass dude [just listen to the intro of 'Desobeis']. Finally, the addition of Florent Taillandier on keyboards allows the two guitar players to concentrate more on their melodic parts, and this element has once again something to do with Vanden Plas' conception of heavy prog metal.

All the tracks are worth listening to provided you're not allergic to ballads ['Fleurs du Mal', 'Nomade']. 'En Mon Nom', 'Comme Une Ombre' and 'L'ultime Seconde' is a trio of outstanding songs while 'Utopia' is a guitar intro for the best song on the album 'Ange ou Demon'. 'Dernier Hommage' has the catchier chorus ever released by a French band and 'Desobeis' just comes at the second rank [or maybe the contrary...]. Finally, Sortilege cover 'Messager' concludes Ange ou Demon with a huge amount of heavy metal attitude.

In a nutshell, Ange ou Demon is a surprising treasure chest, with a brilliant production, catchy songs. The best effort from France since... uhm... can I say ever? I think so! This album is a must-have for heavy fans, prog fans, French metalheads... so on and so on! Basically, if you like metal, you will love Manigance.