review: Monolith

Monolith

Lord Conspirator

MMD Records

28 April 2020

Monolith (South Africa) is extreme metal with plenty of fast parts and all the usual elements that fans want, but what stands out for them is the little gems of progressive, midtempo melodies that form a contrast with the death metal. They do a contemporary, non-retro sound with a noticeably rumbly bass guitar. As already stated, the music is not slow, but songs often have room for the guitar melody to be expressed in an expansive, mellow way for pleasant segments within songs that have blasting parts and other such intensity.

The biggest reason for extreme metal audiences to look into the band would be their ability to make their contemporary death metal accessible through their proggy melodies. The band is not “old-school” in their style. It’s a bit groove-oriented but not too much. They use some tremolo picking and that adds a different angle, too. They do blasting, but it’s not a monotonous trait. They have the low growling vocals and the higher, raspier ones, too. All good stuff. However, their efforts to have the melodies as a style is central to what they do. It’s a nice thing that they make their death metal more accessible with some melody. While fans of old-school energy will dig the heaviness, blasting and the brutal vocals, other people may like the fresh, 2020 vibes. This is not melodic death metal per se, but it also has enough hooks for those fans to check it out. Fear not, there is abundant headbanging music going on here, too.

mmdrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-lord-conspirator