Jack Maniak are a solo project that has had music reviewed before in this zine and on this recording goes into more of a synthwave direction and this is a review of his self released 2020 ep "Maniaktivity".
An 80's influenced synth pop sound starts off the ep along with some programmed beats while the vocals are done in a clean style. Electric guitars can also be heard in the background at times and adds an influence of metal onto the recording along with the riffs also adding in a decent amount of melody.
When guitar solos and leads are utilized they are also done in a very melodic style while spoken word can also b e heard briefly. Elements of industrial can also be heard in some parts of the recording along with some blast beats also being used briefly and all of the tracks also sound very different from each other, aggressive and robotic vocals can also be heard on a couple of songs.
On this recording Jack Maniak continues the emtal influenced style of synthwave from his previous release as well as adding in touches of industrial to take his music to another level. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics cover horror and science fiction themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Jack Maniak and if you are a fan of metal influenced synthwave, you should check out this ep. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "A Simple Boy" and "The Enemy Within". 8 out of 10.
https://jackmaniak.bandcamp.com/releases
