Manntra

Croatian rock overlords Manntra formed in Umag in 2011 and set out their fusion-led stall the following year on their debut studio album Horizont, showcasing their signature blend of traditional Balkan folk and electronics-studded metal. Originally conceived by lead vocalist/guitarist Marko Matijević Sekul—producer of the band's debut LP—and bassist Zoltan Lečei, both formerly of industrial metal group Omega Lithium, the pair recruited Andrea Kert as a drummer and set about channelling some of their influences into their new project Manntra. Their next two albums—Venera (2015) and Meridian (2017)—hit home, leaning more into folk and stepping away from some of the electronic touches, with Meridian helping to widen the band's audience outside of Croatia. For their fourth album Oyka! (2019) they turned their attention to the English language, and that same year were unexpectedly announced as one of the 16 participants in Dora 2019, Croatia's national contest to select the country's Eurovision Song Contest 2019 entry. Entertaining the viewers with their song "In the Shadows," they finished fourth in the competition. Their subsequent album Monster Mind Consuming arrived in 2021 and assumed a darker character, featuring meditations on war and struggle, while the follow-up Kreatura saw them embrace the English language and revisit their industrial metal roots to delve deeper into folklore. Manntra released Endlich! Live in Hamburg in 2022, which comprised a live album and video release of their show in Hamburg. In 2023, the band returned with new studio album War of the Heathens.