It’s been almost three years since Cincinnati’s Mangrenade released its third EP, Severed Part One, and went on hiatus. The release marked a defining transition from the then trio’s cocky Rock & Roll roots into a much heavier and abrasive style of Rock and Metal fusion. Nick Thieme (vocals/guitar) and Ben Morgan (vocals/guitar) have always been fans of pioneering Metalcore acts like Converge and Every Time I Die, sprinkling their influence throughout the first batch of EPs. But now, with three years to stew on personal hardship and get nice and angry, Thieme and Morgan have decided to put the band back together for Severed Part Two, with AJ Grubb on drums and Nick Millson on bass. And this time, they’re not hiding the aggression behind any semblance of their Drunk Rock origins. Severed Part Two is a set of four tracks written by two very pissed musicians who have three years of pent-up bullshit to shout about in 16 short minutes.
The EP kicks through the door with “Suffer,” a wrecking ball of hate and fury. The song’s riffs would sound at home blasting out of a biker bar’s jukebox and the lyrics certainly won’t earn the boys any brownie points from their ex-wives. From the opening lines, it’s obvious that Mangrenade has dealt with some slights in the past three years and they’re hell-bent on letting the world know. The track also shines a light on the band’s tightly tuned vocal delivery, with Morgan on most of the verses and Thieme exploding onto the choruses, giving each section a unique identity.
“My Oblivion,” slows the pace down just a touch to really hammer home the chunkier guitar that Mangrenade’s brings to the table. With two guitars to work with now, the band’s output on this EP is much fuller and has far more depth than its stripped-down releases of old. The fuming lyrical thread of “Suffer” extends through to this track, with none of the vitriol lost in the transition.
“Severed Parts,” the third track, is the standout of the new EP. This is where Morgan’s outspoken love of Every Time I Die is pushed to the forefront; his vocals harken back to Keith Buckley’s old-school, erratic shriek. A Southern-fried Metal riff weaves in and out of the track, broken only by a coarse run through the choruses that sounds more like Jane Doe than The Big Dirty. The unexpected shift from down n’ dirty groove to unsettling and visceral aggression is as startling as it is thrilling.
“Franklin Street” wraps up the EP with Mangrenade’s first true attempt at a ballad. Previous offerings, such as “Just a Ghost,” off of 2013’s Lions in the Parking Lot, have skirted the line, but the band finally took the leap on Severed Part Two, with mixed results. The song definitely carries emotional weight, but with such a short run time, and having 3/4 of the EP devoted to its most antagonistic material to date, it’s a bit jarring to end on a relatively peaceful note. That said, the track does prove that Mangrenade can be called a lot of things, but stagnant is not one of them.
Given the length of time between the release of Severed Part Two and Severed Part Two and the obstacles the musicians needed to overcome, most fans likely assumed that this EP was never going to come to fruition. But Thieme and Morgan were able to take all of their anger of pain and distill them into a concentrated set of tracks that perfectly encompasses where they are in their lives. It may have taken three years of going to hell and back a few times, but at least it culminated in 16 minutes of music that resonates far beyond its run time.
Listen to Severed Part Two below and click here (or on the player) to download the new EP on Bandcamp for free. Mangrenade performs Saturday at Covington’s Madison Live! with HereComeHere, which is releasing its new full-length, Chernobyl.
This article appears in Apr 5-12, 2017.
