Manhattan Century is an Austrian Progressive Metal band with a passion for storytelling. While their heart beats for heavy music, the band incorporates a wide range of other genres to tell a continuous tale across multiple albums addressing the struggles of navigating an overstimulated, isolated world.
Founded by brothers Alexander and Florian Artner in a small town where there is nothing else to do but write music, the lineup features Prog Metal giant Ritchie Krenmaier (Stygma IV) and Michael Notter on drums. The band already had early successes by sharing the stage with the likes of CYNIC, Persephone and DVNE.
Their 2022 debut release APE was recorded in a home studio during the pandemic. Throughout the 25-minute EP, the story of an early human civilization is told as they make contact with an all-knowing entity, exploring themes of alienation and the conflict between individualism and collectivism. Musically, the album uses recurring themes to introduce topics and characters. It takes you on an emotional journey from classical orchestration over funk and jazz to atmospheric tribal percussions, all embedded in a web of crushing heavy metal riffs and tasteful solos. APE was written to be consumed in one sitting as each song seamlessly flows into the next one.
2024's MAN picks up the story where APE ended. The 35-minute EP is a string of interconnected songs that tell a story of longing for a simple life while growing up in an over-stimulated overly complex world. The songs match that sentiment with experimental song structures that revolve around building up simple themes into intricate layers only to break them down once more into a relatable resolution.
If you believe genre is a social construct, you came to the right place.
