… Read Full Bio ↴Manticora is a progressive power metal band from Hvidovre, Denmark.
Manticora was formed in 1997 by Lars Larsen (vocals), Kristian Larsen (guitars) and Mads Volf (drums) – these three have made up the core of the band ever since. In the early days the band was a foursome with bass player Rene as the last member. Soon after the band recorded the now legendary mini CD “Dead End Solution”, which marked the beginning of the Manticora-trademark sound; hard hitting power metal with both epic and thrash elements.
In 1998 Manticora signed with Intromental Management and shortly afterwards their first record deal was signed with Greek record label Black Lotus. The same year the band added an extra guitarist, Flemming, and a keyboardist, Jeppe, to the line-up. The debut full-length disc, “Roots Of Eternity”, was released in summer 1999, and received tremendously good response from both media and fans around the world.
2000 saw the band signing with the Italian record label Scarlet Records, and half a year later the next opus, the somewhat more melodic album, “Darkness With Tales To Tell”, was released, and once again receiving great acclaim. In 2001 bassist Rene decided to leave the band to focus on his family. Kasper Gram was enrolled in the band as new bass player, and his young energy kicked the band into even higher gear. Along with the change of bassist came also the change of guitarist, as Flemming left Manticora and Martin Arendal joined the band.
In 2002 the band played a brilliant gig at the Sweden Rock Festival to a large screaming and headbanging audience. In the fall 2002 “Hyperion” was released. This was the so-far most wide-spanning work of the band; an epic concept album, based on the award winning sci-fi novel “The Hyperion Cantos” by Dan Simmons. The album was whole-heartedly embraced by fans and media worldwide, and with a European tour in spring 2003 (with label mates Platitude as support band) Manticora took another step up the ladder.
In early 2004 the band began work on their next disc, “8 Deadly Sins”, yet another conceptual disc. The album was recorded in March/April 2004 in Jailhouse Studios with producer Tommy Hansen (Helloween, Pretty Maids, HateSphere, TNT etc.). In February 2005 the band toured throughout Europe together with Angra and Edenbridge. The tour was a great success for the band and they made a lot of new fans and friends there. Joining the core of Lars, Mads, Kasper and Kristian was session-guitarist Stefan Johansson and Swedish keyboardist Andreas Lindahl. The band then did their first ever (highly successful) US appareance at the ProgPower Festival in Atlanta, GA (September 2005).
With Martin Arendal (guitars) returning to the fold instead of Stefan, the band once again went into studio, to record it’s 5th full-length album, the first part of the 2-album concept “The Black Circus”. Lyrically it deals with the horror story of a travelling circus in 19th century New England. The lyrics are written as letters from the main person in the story to another person. Once again produced by Tommy Hansen, the album is bigger, better and more adventurous than ever before. After a mini-European tour, alongside Andromeda, Manticora hit Jailhouse Studio to finalize the 2nd part of “The Black Circus”. With “The Black Circus Part 2” in their now extended catalogue, Manticora went on both European and USA tour, warming up for Jon Oliva's Pain, and another tour was booked for Europe in May 2009, as support band for Circle II Circle. This time, going through 16 countries for 21 shows.
In 2010 Manticora's 7th full length album was released worldwide. "Safe" was an even darker journey in the musical universe of Manticora. A European headliner tour was booked for October 2010, taking the band through nine different countries, with Norwegians, Divided Multitude as support act.
However, personal tragedy struck the band on several levels, and a band hiatus was agreed upon, allowing only for single gigs and festival shows to be played and no new material to be written.
In August 2012, Manticora finally performed at the world's largest metal festival - Wacken Open Air, and it lead to the band, re-opening the goodiebag of writing new material. April 2013, saw the band, playing the prestigious PPM festival in Belgium, and a month later, Martin Arendal played his last show with Manticora (a smaller Danish show).
The future of Manticora is to write the 8th album, and 2014 will most likely mean some international touring - with a new lead guitarist, who is yet to be discovered.
Safe
Manticora Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Always on the prowl to discover the light of day
Somebody once told me that all good comes to he who waits
Hard to believe when the lung of life deflates
The only thing worse than losing you mind and being
Is to know about the fact that it is happening
So why do we keep on fighting when Death's cold embrace
And my search always ends in Death!
[A Miracle]
Then came the day when it was time
To greet you with a "Welcome to the world"
I saw a miracle unveil before my eyes
The birth of a little baby girl
A picture says more than a thousand words
So here I am - look at me
Try to fathom the love you see in my stare
My blood, my love, my life
I'll fight for my miracle
I'll conquer for my miracle
I'll endure for my miracle
I'll die for you - my miracle
And I'd kill the whole world if I knew it'd made you smile
Down to the last of human kind
They've got supremacy in numbers
But I have an image of you in my mind...
So I look at my miracle and fill with pain
That I ever have to separate from you again
I think of my miracle and tears fill my eyes
As all my frustration fades and dies
I'll fight for my miracle
I'll conquer for my miracle
I'll endure for my miracle
I'll die for you - my miracle
[Fading]
I feel my days are growing shorter
And with that, a battle has begun
To live and breathe every moment with you
To stay with you under the sun
I planted a seed - the image of me
And now that you're here
I wonder about my own mortality
Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder
So I am not objective, that's true
But you are the sweetest thing to gaze upon
And I bleed inside when I look at you
I planted a seed - the image of me
And now that you're here
I ponder my own immortality
[End(less)]
Now that nature can dispose of me
I ask myself, how can you go on
The answer lies in you
You made me SAFE
My life, my love, my blood...
The song "Safe" by Manticora begins with a philosophical question about the search for the essence of things. The lyrics mention the desire to discover the light of day and the idea that good things come to those who wait. However, the reality is that life is fleeting, and death is inevitable. The fear of losing one's mind and knowing that it is happening is worse than the loss itself. Despite the inevitability of death, people continue to fight against it, even though it brings nothing but nothingness. The lyrics suggest that death is the end result of every search, which is a bleak outlook on life.
The lyrics then shift from the philosophical to the personal, as the singer describes the birth of their daughter as a miracle. The love for their child is evident in the way they look at her; the lyrics suggest that the love they feel for their child is worth enduring hardship and even dying for. The lyrics suggest that they would do anything to make their child happy, even if it means killing the whole world. The singer acknowledges their own mortality and wonders what will happen to them when nature disposes of them. However, the child has made them feel safe, and their life, love, and blood are all dedicated to this little miracle.
Overall, the song "Safe" by Manticora explores the philosophical question of the search for the essence of things and how it relates to the personal experience of becoming a parent. The lyrics suggest that the search for meaning and purpose in life ultimately leads to death, but the love for a child can make life feel safe and meaningful.
Line by Line Meaning
So the search went on to find where the essence of things lay
The constant pursuit of the truth behind existence
Always on the prowl to discover the light of day
Continuously searching for insights that shed light on life's mysteries
Somebody once told me that all good comes to he who waits
Patience will ultimately reward us with good things, as told by someone
Hard to believe when the lung of life deflates
This belief becomes difficult to hold onto when life becomes difficult and hopeless
The only thing worse than losing you mind and being
Losing one's sanity and sense of self is bad, but
Is to know about the fact that it is happening
Knowing it's happening makes it even worse
So why do we keep on fighting when Death's cold embrace
What makes us continue with our struggle when death is guaranteed
Brings us nothing but nothingness... Still we carry on...
When we are just reduced to nothing, why do we still continue striving?
And my search always ends in Death!
The artist's search for the meaning of life and existence always ends with death
Then came the day when it was time
The day it was appropriate for a particular event to happen
To greet you with a "Welcome to the world"
To welcome the baby into the world
I saw a miracle unveil before my eyes
The artist witnessed something awe-inspiring happen
The birth of a little baby girl
The specific event that the singer saw was the birth of a baby girl
A picture says more than a thousand words
The singer recognizes the power of visual representation
So here I am - look at me
The singer is present in the moment
Try to fathom the love you see in my stare
The love the artist has for the baby girl is difficult to comprehend solely through looking
My blood, my love, my life
The baby girl means everything to the artist - they would do anything for her
And I'd kill the whole world if I knew it'd made you smile
The singer would sacrifice even the whole world if it meant making the baby girl happy
Down to the last of human kind
The singer would kill every single human if it meant making the baby girl happy
They've got supremacy in numbers
Other humans might have more strength in numbers
But I have an image of you in my mind...
The baby girl is still the most important to the artist, regardless of the others around
I feel my days are growing shorter
The artist is aware of their own mortality
And with that, a battle has begun
The singer has been emotionally struggling with this knowledge
To live and breathe every moment with you
To appreciate every moment spent with the baby girl
To stay with you under the sun
To be with the baby girl for as long as possible
I planted a seed - the image of me
The singer created the baby girl, so sees their own image in her
And now that you're here
Now that the baby girl exists
I wonder about my own mortality
The existence of the baby girl makes the artist think about their own death
Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder
The artist understands that beauty is subjective
So I am not objective, that's true
The singer knows their subjective viewpoint is not the objective truth
But you are the sweetest thing to gaze upon
The baby girl is the most beautiful thing the singer has ever seen
And I bleed inside when I look at you
The artist is moved to a deep emotional state when they see the baby girl
Now that nature can dispose of me
The artist acknowledges their own mortality and the power nature has over them
I ask myself, how can you go on
The artist questions how they can endure the fact of their own death
The answer lies in you
The baby girl, whom the singer loves deeply, provides the answer as to how they can keep going
You made me SAFE
The love the artist has for the baby girl makes them feel safe and content
My life, my love, my blood...
The baby girl is everything to the singer; they would give anything for her
Contributed by Bella E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
ZicherCZ
All of this is a masterpiece. And Miracle? Imagine being a father. You WILL feel the same.
Omar Cusihuaman
Kristian Larsen band
SMADR BAND
Kasper Gram band :) Gave him a spot in my band in the 90's and he keeps getting better & better :)