Straight out of Gothenburg, straight to a brilliant success, MANIMAL had released some demos over their starting years, receiving good reviews, and in 2008 they felt they were ready to take it to the next level and start working on a full length album. The band released their first album in Sweden on their own label in late 2009. Soon after, AFM came across the entity and signed them for a world-wide release of "The Darkest Room".

MANIMAL play Melodic Power Metal, and it rocks! Vocalist Samuel Nyman has a two sided voice, both of which are great: One tone is a Gothic-like voice the opposing is a high pitched flyer, and when he sings high, he sings HIGH. The instrumentation brings RAMMSTEIN's elements into the picture, holding a hard Metal edge, and running along in sync with the vocals wonderfully. Keyboards and digital noises were implemented into the music to add extra sound that the band was seeking, and it was a fantastic idea. The music alone isn't the only thing worth mentioning though, as the lyrics are well written for each song. For instance, from "Ordinary Man": "I'm afraid to walk another way, So get in line and look away, Too weak to disobey, Please remember me, Sweet dreams of who I am, An ordinary man, With an ordinary plan". Every line in all nine songs has great composition.

"Come see the world inside my head, Join the living dead, Believe the word and turn away from it all". Taken from "Living Dead", these are words you will be singing to yourself for quite some time after hearing them, and there is a certain brilliance to the meaning. The chilling track "Spinegrinder" is a very dark piece with a fine vibe to it, a song you can imagine being part of a horror film soundtrack, if you will. The starting of the guitars in "The Life We Lived" are for one, a perfect way to end an album, bearing a gleaming farewell, and secondly, it is a really good song - with it being the last track, and a catchy one to boot, this will most likely be a major stick in your head. The final words spoken on this CD, "When the hour struck us, When the fury tears us all apart, There will be a time for being strong, We created it all in the life we lived, In the life we lived"...Excellent. One thing is for sure, we want more! As MANIMAL's first full length record and the fact that it's this stunning, the future holds great things for them. MANIMAL - keeping Power Metal alive, we salute you.