Mantus' latest opus "Refugium" is different. Perhaps this is due to the times we live in. Perhaps, though, this is because Martin Schindler believes there is no other way. After leaving the drawn-in, elegiac world of the wonderful predecessor "Melancholia", "Refugium" has the intensity and force of a breaking dam. Like never before in the career of the tireless Gothic icon, the topics are literally torn apart, almost schizophrenic in their oscillating movement between introvert and extrovert. Outbidding the poles of the Mantus signature sound between Dark Rock grandeur and melancholic longing, this leads to some of the strongest and most haunting pieces in a career almost spanning 20 years. More than ever before, "Refugium" tells us of the battle against everything that is bad, but also of capitulation. Of resignation. Ironically enough, though, it is mostly works like that fight against giving up with fierce determination.