MONUMENTS – “Gnosis”

If you think back to bands such as SixTh then this genre of ultra tech/ djent has been around for some time, however, with bands such as TesseracT, Periphery and Meshuggah perhaps bringing it more to the public eye and out of the groove Metal shadows, it can be no real surprise that more and more bands are coming forward with their own take on what, at the end of the day can be a very difficult style of music to get right.

Nothing wrong with that I hear you say, and providing it’s done well, I quite agree.

Monuments début album Gnosis” nails it in a number of ways, yes, we have the jarring riffs that really set this genre apart from most others but we also have that increasingly rare commodity called melody. You can sometimes be technical for technicalities sake but Monuments deliver an album that strikes a near perfect balance between an overriding ambition to push the boundaries even further, and maintaining a level of accessibility for the listener.

Tracks such as Doxa for example really encapsulate the bands sound in a nutshell, Blue Sky Thinking, with its beautiful mix of aggressive and clean vocal, and my personal album highlight 97% Static, which lends a fantastic, dreamy, atmospheric feel to the ear.

Lyrically, the album is quite political in it’s content, with the overall message of think for yourself and not to follow other peoples train of thought, which in a way could easily describe the band themselves.

A début release this may be but it has been many years in the concept forming and song writing to get to this stage.

Guitarist, John Browne has assembled a fine group of musicians together to realise his dream, non more so than Matt Rose on vocals who has an unnerving gift of moving from the hard edge sound and then to meander seamlessly across the spectrum to deliver some really uplifting melodies.

Top of the tree they may not be just yet but on the showing of this highly impressive work, it must surely only be a matter of time.

Rating 8.5/10.

Track Listing;
1. Admit Defeat.
2. Degenerate.
3. Doxa.
4. The Uncollective.
5. Blue Sky Thinking.
6. 97% Static.
7. Empty Vessels Make The Most Noise.
8. Regenerate.
9. Denial.

Monuments are;
John Browne – Guitar.
Olly Steele – Guitar.
Adam Swan – Bass.
Mike Malyan – Drums.
Matt Rose – Vocals.

Released on the 27th of August via Century Media Records

Links:

http://www.facebook.com/thisismonuments

http://www.centurymedia.com/

 

[youtube=http://youtu.be/GoYb_PpQjSs]

 

 

About Simon Bower

Rock/Metal junkie living in beautiful Anglesey.Love live music and have a musical taste which can go from Cannibal Corpse to Kate Bush in the blink of an eye.