Liste der Bands Funeral Doom Monolithe Monolithe IV

French doom quartet Monolithe formed in 2001 as a side project of symphonic doom metal act Anthemon. Later on, however, it became a full-time band after the latter band split up in 2007. Hence the album's title, this is the fourth piece within the group's collection, and it demonstrates how artistic and engaging doom metal can truly be.

For starters, the musicianship is stellar. The vocals are very deep and gruesome in their sound, while the guitars perform majestically depressive and slow riffs and melodies. The drums are slowly paced too, but nonetheless very potent in how explosive they sound with each hit. The synthesizer is very good as well, adding lots of ominous and eerie effects, such as a haunting choirs and orchestra in the background, to increase the album's sense of drama and power.

On top of the great instrumentation, the production is wonderfully done as well. In fact, if there is just one word to describe the overall sound of this record, it would be 'huge.' The atmosphere is unbelievably vast, and it knows how to grab and immerse you into its mordant world. The mixing makes the album sound theatrical, haunting, and all-around engaging, making it yet another element that makes this album so enjoyable.

This album is composed of only one song, but it lasts for nearly an hour. This is obviously a large risk, because if the track lacks enough buildup for one for its genre, it would be disastrously boring. Fortunately, "Monolithe IV" is the antithesis of that pitfall. This is probably helped by the fact that Monolithe has already released one-track albums that seemed to have hit the crowd hard, and it certainly shows here. The buildup is borderline perfect, and the record an excellent amount of memorability and atmosphere to make it quite difficult for listeners to turn away from its slow and sheer gloom. It admittedly does start to lose a little steam towards the end, but that is nowhere near enough to faze this masterfully dark record. It's incredibly well-built.

"Monolithe IV" is overall nothing short of a powerful depressive doom metal release. Every aspect of it is not only done right, but it is done better than many other bands of the same caliber. Any fans of the genre are highly recommended to this album, and it may even serve well as a gateway album for doom metal newcomers if they have the patience for its length. This is funeral/death-doom at some of its finest, and this is truly an album where you should get lost, but in a good way.


Originally posted on: http://metaljerky.blogspot.com/