_{Swedish metal band Manimal released their second full length album, entitled “Trapped In The Shadows”, on 20th November through AFM Records. I must admit that they’re a band that I didn’t know that much about, though they’ve been around since 2001. However, when I took a quick listen to the album there was a lot that I liked and it was an easy decision to take more time to check out all of the tracks. The press release from AFM describes Manimal as an “intelligent mixture of powerful melodic metal and progressive elements” – a blend of Judas Priest and Queensryche at their best. I guess that’s a fair description.}

_{Manimal are Samuel Nyman on vocals, Henrik Stenroos on guitar, Andre Holmqvist on drums and Kenny Boufadene on bass. They are joined by U.D.O. and former Accept singer Udo Dirkschneider on the track “The Journey” and by a children’s choir on the track “Screaming Out”.}

_{Formed in 2001, Manimal released their first full length album, entitled “The Darkest Room”, in 2009; so it would be safe to say the follow-up is a bit overdue!}

_{A lyric video has been released for “Screaming Out” and a music video is due to be released for the album’s opening track “Irresistible”. Both these would be amongst my personal favourites from the 10 tracks on the album; along with “The Dark” and “Man-Made Devil”.}

_{For more information check out http://www.manimal.se/ or https://www.facebook.com/manimalofficial/}

_{About “NI Rocks Recommends”}

_{The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation, not a traditional “review”!}

_{My musical tastes cover most things rock; from the not too melodic to the not too heavy. The albums that I’ll be recommending are merely those that I would buy myself and which you’ll be hearing played on my shows on Rock Radio NI.}

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