The ManRaze craze started just a few years back in 2004 when punk guitar legend Phil Collen, from notorious Def Leppard, started an electrifying London based alternative dub-punk-rock band together with cutting-edge drummer from revolutionary Sex Pistols, Paul Cook and solid bassist of Collen’s former band, Girl, Simon Laffy. Together they are ManRaze, the experience of a soul stirringly rhythmic and dynamically intense diamond in the rough straight out of London. This thrashing trio has, in their first 7 years, broken the scene to their standards, defying musical barriers and selling more than 75 million records, accomplishing 2 diamond records and spicing up today’s scene with their bad-ass London rudeboy attitude. A whirlwind of punk, rock and reggae, the smouldering band had already released their debut album “Surreal” in June of 2008 via VH1 Classic Records (first limited ed. EP “Skin Crawl” in 2005). Tearing through the first years of life, this newborn band is not finding it’s place, but making it’s place in the rock/punk scene and engineering their own spanking new sound.

Fast-forward to 2011, ManRaze is ready to release their second full-length album aptly titled “Punkfunkrootsrock” which pays homage to their many musical influences throughout the bands years thus far. “Punkfunkrootsrock”, the 2nd longplayer of the band features twelve fiery, new tracks highlighting ManRaze’s re-emergence to the rock/dub/soul music scene as 3 powerful musicians who possess the energetic prowess, aggressive live genius and wide range diversity of prototype artists like Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones, U2, Linkin Park, the Sex Pistols, and many others who have left their indelible marks on musical history. The band does by all means define the album title with dignity.

Phil Collen’s powerful and aggressive vocals, his catchy chorus and perfectly toned guitar together with the solid drums from Paul Cook and Simon Laffy’s strong bass makes the album energetic from the first to the last song. Already the opener and first single ‘Over My Dead Body’ demonstrates the path of the album. While ‘I C U In Everything’ is a pure rocker, ‘Closer To Me’ shows off the dance vibe and the overall pop element that Phil is known for. The song ‘I, Superbiker’ was even featured as the theme song for the documentary of the same name in the spring 2011 which has been released solely in the UK.

Besides a perfectly arranged rendition of Jimmy Hendrix’s classic ‘Fire’ the instrumental song ‘Dogbite’ ends this album well. The remainder of the album’s twelve tracks feature many diverse genres including rock, soul and reggae dub, a perfect blend of influences each band member brings to the mix. ManRaze is a response to the ever changing climate of multi-faceted music and should be heralded for far more than just being a ‘rock band’.