From the misty expanses of Finnish Ostrobothnia, Mandy Manala return with their most ambitious and visceral work: “Something Wicked,” released on May 29, 2026 under the aegis of Argonauta Records. If their 2025 self-titled debut had sown the seeds of a vintage Hard Rock tinged with occult suggestions, this new chapter marks a clear evolution toward decidedly darker and psychologically denser territory. Drawing from a refined imaginative world spanning the cinema of Robert Eggers and Ingmar Bergman to the infernal descents of Dante, the record takes shape as a sonic ritual on the disintegration of the soul. We had the pleasure of speaking directly with the band to unravel the secrets of this new, Dark manifesto.
Welcome back to our pages. “Something Wicked” arrives roughly a year after the debut: how would you describe the evolution of your sound in such a short span of time?
Kenneth:
I think it has evolved naturally. We don’t spend time thinking that ”we should evolve” or ”we should sound more like this or that”. We just take it as it comes and let the songs guide us.
Compared to the first record, this work appears much more “Dark and Heavy.” Was it a deliberate choice from the outset, or did the material come out this way spontaneously?
Kenneth:
When we had the first record done and started to look for a suitable label for us it took an awful lot of time to find the right one. So in that period of time ( when we didn’t officially exist yet) we had the time and opportunity to write more songs. I think the world is getting darker all the time, hence the subject matter of the songs also get darker. Personally I have also struggled alot with myself and my own mind these past years which also ”helps”. I need to get this constant buzz out of my head in some way and a song is a good victim for that.
Christa:
I think also we got more confidence after the recording of the first album. We wrote the songs for “Something Wicked” in about a year. After we found our sound for the first album, the writing process became more natural.
The title “Something Wicked” suggests a looming threat. In the lyrics, however, this wickedness seems to become an inner essence. Can you explain this concept of “transformation“?
Kenneth:
Pain makes you stronger. At least if you can harness it the right way. The title track tells the story of the moment Amanda von Treiss was burned as a witch. The song ends when she dies and comes back as Mandy Manala and declares revenge on the bloodline of all the people that has done her wrong. This symbolises alot of things. We as people live and learn everyday. I mean, you can let people push you down, but you can also turn the pain of getting pushed down into strength and push back. Mandy pushes back. And she does it very hard. She’s a symbol of harvesting the agony of life and making something useful of it.
You have cited directors such as Robert Eggers and Ingmar Bergman among your influences. In what way has their Cinematic approach influenced the songwriting on this album?
Kenneth:
Ingmar Bergman and his visual storytelling has always been something that I’ve found fascinating. When we started the band I always imagined how Fleetwood Mac would have looked and sounded if they would have been in a Bergman-film. As for Robert Eggers I think he’s a very interesting newcomer. Also alot of Bergman in his films. Very inspiring. I wrote the lyrics for the song ”Nocturnal Bites” in my head after I had watched the film ”Nosferatu” at the movie theatre. In the car ride home I hummed the melody into voice memo on my phone and sent it to David. Ten minutes later as I parked the car in my garage at home he sent back the riff just as it is in the song. Inspiration has a way of finding you sometimes and not the other way around.
Dante and Bram Stoker are other cultural pillars of the record. How did you manage to bring these classics together with your music?
Kenneth:
Dante’s Inferno is a beautifully told story that one can interpret in alot of ways. I’ve always been aquainted with some segments of it, but I’d never read it as a whole. But when we were writing the album I was reading it for the first time in my life and it was constantly in my mind. Every single lyric I wrote for the album has probably been colored by it one way or the other. As for Bram Stoker I had to read the original ”Dracula” again after seeing Robert Eggers version of ”Nosferatu” and to get more meat on my bones particularly for the song ”Nocturnal Bites”. For example, the music video for the song is inspired by the transformation of Lucy Westenra in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Kenneth, you handle the lyrics and production: what was the greatest challenge in translating such complex themes into Rock song lyrics?
Kenneth:
I don’t really see it as such. Everything is a challenge or nothing is a challenge. I just write down what I see or feel or hear and it might become a song, someday. Or it might not. Usually the latter. We make a good team in Mandy Manala. If someone doesn’t feel for something, it might not be the best idea. Sometimes I have something that I don’t think ever will make a song, but then David plays a killer riff that I find suitable for that particular lyric. Then the rest helps to build on it. Also, I always have Christa in my mind when writing lyrics for her to sing. Sometimes that can be good enough of a muse. Bottom line, I’m very dependant on the strenghts of the rest of the bandmembers.
The album was recorded at Wolfthrone Studios over the Ascension weekend in 2025. What was the atmosphere like in the studio during those days?
Kenneth:
When we enter the studio we are very well-prepped. Everything is planned in pre-production and we know exactly what amps and microphones we are gonna use and how they are gonna be placed in the room. We know exactly in what order everything will be recorded and how it should sound and everything is very well rehearsed. If something doesn’t work out as we have thought then I always have a plan B and a Plan C thought out beforehand. Since we plan these things ahead, the studio environment feels very relaxed and we never feel that we’re falling behind schedule or that we are struggling with anything. Always smooth sailing.
Christa:
It is always a pleasure to vistit Wolfthrones Studios. The vibe is unmatched and we all have a great time.
You worked again with Owe Inborr. What added value does he bring to your music in terms of mix and mastering?
Kenneth:
Oh my god! Where should I start? This wouldn’t be possible without Owe. He becomes our fifth member the second we book his studio. We plan EVERYTHING with him and by the time he pushes the ”record”-button he knows exactly what we want and he’s in on it a hundred percent. I have said this before, and I’ll say it again. If I ever find myself in the most expensive and well established studio in the world and has a ridiculous amount of money to spend to produce our masterpiece and can choose whoever I want to work with, the first person I’ll call will be Owe Inborr!
Owe also played organs and keyboards on several tracks. How important is this “Atmospheric” touch in defining your Occult Rock?
Every single sound and note that’s in there plays an important part. I always think out and plan these things beforehand and explain it to Owe how I want it to be. The important thing is that although I probably explain things poorly sometimes, Owe somehow understands how I want it to be anyway. That kind of communication is rare and plays an important part in the production. It’s like kicking a ball against a wall and getting it to bounce back to you perfectly so you can kick it a little bit harder every single time it bounces back.
“Shoebox” is a very particular track, starting acoustically before exploding. Can you tell us the story behind this piece and its symbolic meaning?
Kenneth:
Sometimes a new song lyric actually start with David writing something and comes up with a theme and then I understand exactly what he’s after and ”take over” the writing. This is one of those. We have a mutual friend. He’s a hippie living out in the woods. He likes to do these strange things like for example getting bit by snakes on purpose just to see how it feels. One time he was high on mushrooms and tried this children’s game when you tie together two paper cups with a string and put a message you like to deliver to the beyond inside a shoebox and locks it into a closet. Then you use the paper cups to listen against the door if you get any answers from the beyond. Well, he actually got it to work. He didn’t know if he was going crazy or if he was dead or having a fever dream. I would say it was the mushrooms talking, but then again, you never know. Strange things can lurk on the other side.
You chose “Bloodred Chapel of Sin” as the first single. Why do you think this track best represents the soul of the new album?
Kenneth:
We actually didn’t think that way. We just thought it would be a good first single in the same matter as the more anthemic ”Nocturnal Bites” is a good second single and the eerie ballad ”Shoebox” would make for a great third single. Together in that particular order they represent the album ”Something Wicked” in the best possible way.
In “Psalm 77:7” you quote a biblical passage, yet the text seems to speak of a collapse of faith. What is your relationship with the sacred and the occult?
Kenneth:
This is also one of the lyrics David started and I finished. I know that for him this has been a sensitive, and in many matters, a haunting subject his whole life. He grew up in a strictly religious family where everyone was afraid of the devil and the occult. They attended these religious meetings where people were speaking in tongues on a regular basis. If you did this or did that you would end up in the eternal flames of hell. So he writes very good and sometimes satirical lyrics about an actual childhood trauma. I know where he wants to go with the subject as soon as he starts to write, and it is probably in a way easier for me than for him to put the right words to it sometimes. David and I have made music together almost 20 years, so we have a good matter of understanding.
Christa:
I have mixed feelings about the Abrahamic religions in general. I think they were built on patriarchal values, and sometimes I feel that this may have come from men struggling to accept the unique role women have in creating life. However, I am not against religion. I believe faith can be a beautiful thing and can give people comfort and meaning. My only concern is when it starts to have a negative effect on people or when it becomes too controlling and limits a person’s freedom to live their own life. I think Psalm 7:77 somewhat sums that up.
With “The Dark Passenger Pt. 2” you continue a narrative begun on the debut. Is there a connective thread between the two records?
Kenneth:
I’m obsessed with details that reward the attentive listener. Personally I’m very fond of noticing small details in art that the artist does to connect different aspects in their work. There are several things on these two records that suggest connection between the two. But I will not spoil anything.
Christa, your voice on this album seems to reach new heights of theatricality. How did you work on the interpretation of such emotionally dense songs?
Christa:
I tried to approach each song as a story rather than just a vocal performance. The lyrics deal with alot of different themes, so it was important for me to understand the emotional core of each song. The delivery was the outcome of that, the understanding. Sometimes that meant holding back and singing more intimately, while other parts required a more dramatic and theatrical approach. I think I felt more confident exploring different emotions and characters on this album, which probably made the vocal performance feel more expressive than before.
Moving to the live side, what are your plans for 2026? Will you be bringing “Something Wicked” outside of Finland?
Kenneth:
As of now, we don’t have any plans. I would love to say ”If you book us, we will come”. But it isn’t quite that simple. It’s a hell alot of work to nurture a functioning live band. Since we all lead different lives time is always an essence. We rather focus on writing songs, recording music and producing videos. Those things will be around forever. We don’t find much value to play at a divebar somewhere in Assville for ten people that forget about us the next day. We rather use that time to make new songs. But if we get requests that feels right, we will of course consider them. It’s not a money thing either, let me put that on the record. It’s more about WHO asks us to do WHAT. We are not trying to make a living out of this, that’s why everything does never have to be about ”the best career-move”. We do this because we feel like it.
How do you experience the current Finnish music scene? Is there support for sounds so rooted in Vintage and Occult Rock?
Kenneth:
No, I wouldn’t say so. It’s more of a small DIY-scene. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. The bad thing is that there are hardly no venues anymore to experience the underground. How can you DIY when there is no I to DY in? All music events are these big events with already well-established bands that cost a fortune. Soon there will be only big bankers and businessmen that can afford to go watch live music. That kinda takes the rock out of the roll, don’t you think?
Is there any particular — or “unsettling” — anecdote from the recording sessions you would like to share with us?
Kenneth:
Only fond memories. We’re really quite boring. Four middle aged dudes and a young woman who think we smell bad. Speaking of smelling bad, I recorded the segments of Dante in my underwear, though. Does that count?
Christa:
When we recorded the first album, I had been partying for 3 days already (easter ftw). For the second album my pre-frontal cortex was fully developed so I took it a bit easier hahah. But yeah, as Kenneth said, we are quite boring but we always have a good time.
After an album as definitive as “Something Wicked,” where do you think the Mandy Manala journey will head in the future?
Kenneth:
We will continue to write songs that we would listen to ourselves if we weren’t so sick of them by the time they are done. As long as there are misery in the world and life punches you in the face when you least expect it, we will make songs. Bottom line, this is a good band to be in. It balances out the shitshow that is life for short periods of time. Everyone doesn’t have that. We do. And we want to keep it that way. It thrills us that other people also find joy in our perverse and wicked therapy-sessions. Thank you!
“Something Wicked” is not merely a confirmation, but a manifesto of how contemporary Hard Rock can still be dangerous, cultured, and deeply unsettling. We thank Mandy Manala for their time and for guiding us through the winding corridors of their “chapel of sins.” The ritual is complete: all that remains is to immerse yourself in the listening and let the darkness devour you.
Special thanks to Argonauta Records and Grand Sounds PR for making this interview possible.
Purchase Mandy Manala‘s new album “Something Wicked” here: https://mandymanala.bandcamp.com/album/something-wicked
Read our Review of Mandy Manala‘s new album “Something Wicked” here: [Review] Mandy Manala – Something Wicked