After their performance at the 2005 Bodø Hardcore festival, The Faceless Masses website praised them as "one of the fastest and most technical bands in Norway today."
Manhattan Skyline was formed in Oslo in 2002 by drummer Steffen Sæther-Larsen, guitarist Fredrik Melby and vocalist Hans Marius Midtgarden.
Subsequently, members of Kaospilot, Slingshot Idol, The Break Quintet, and Next Life joined and left.
In October 2003, they recorded their debut EP, Tarantula Arms, a 3" MCD of seven songs featuring off-time rhythm patterns.
Manhattan Skyline contributed a song called "A) Spitting Milk or B) Swallow or Drown" to React With Protest's Emo Armageddon 7" compilation, which was released in February 2005 and included bands such as Funeral Diner, The Birds Are Spies They Report to the Trees, Suis La Lune, and Catena Collapse.