SINGLE REVIEW: Manicburg – Rodents
Dark, dramatic, and deeply immersive, Manicburg’s ‘Rodents’ feels like an eerie, late-night journey through a city on the edge. Inspired by the gritty reality of New York’s Bronx fires in the late 1970s, the track captures that moment in vivid detail—murky, textured, and enveloped in shadow. It’s theatrical without losing authenticity; arty without drifting into pretension. Each note and lyric hangs heavily, weighted with drama and purpose.
Guitar-driven and hazily distorted, the song moves at a purposeful, mid-tempo pace, building its atmosphere through sparse instrumentation and raw, passionate vocals. The guitars blend post-rock textures with grunge’s gritty edge, creating a soundscape that’s both melodic and unsettling. Drums move pensively beneath the surface, restrained yet adding significant tension, underpinning the desolate feel of the track.
When the sweeping guitar solo arrives, it feels almost ethereal, slicing through the murky haze with a moment of genuine release. Yet even in its brighter moments, the song maintains a macabre sense of unease, a darkness that refuses to lift. Manicburg masterfully balance the artistic with the raw, creating something richly cinematic but always rooted firmly in emotion and authenticity.
‘Rodents’ is thoughtful and compelling, pulling you deeper into its dark corners with every listen. It’s a song built not just to be heard, but felt—a haunting, urban epic that stays with you like smoke long after the fire’s gone out.