MONOLITH DEATHCULT, THE „The Apotheosis”

Dutch Death Metal Bands have been know in the past to dish out some heavy and brutal music in the past. One of the newcomers that want to keep that brutality flag waving is “The MONOLITH DEATHCULT”. Their first release is down right brutal, but at time sounds like every other Death Metal act seeping out of the cracks of hell. It is heavy all the way through to the grinding slow parts of the songs. Actually it sucks you in as it crawls across the sound waves, forcing you to continue listening to it.

Typical gutteral deep vocals slam out some pretty violent barks, but what makes “MONOLITH” different from all the other acts, is that they use a three-way vocal attack. It makes them a very unique in that to my knowledge is the only ones doing this. Without knowing this you automatically think there is one vocalist, with another band member blurting out the screams. Each vocalist has his own style of delivery, which makes it all the more interesting. Most of the vocals are of the normal gutteral style, then throw in in some wicked screams and some aggressive yelling, and it defiantly adds to the assaulting out your eardrums.

The fans of blast-beat certainly won't be disappointed in this release due to plenty of fast beats that are sure to satisfy. There is also a lot of double bass to add to the mix that will have you screaming for more. Nothing really fancy in the drumming, just the typical sound coming from “MONOLITH”. The guitars have a sonic drive to them that includes some blood splattering riffs. Again nothing surprising. They do however incorporate some blistering solos that go really well with the tracks.

There were things I liked about this release and there were things that I didn't like. I liked the 3 vocal attack. I thought it was original and I liked their delivery in getting some pretty violent lyrics out to their listeners. I do think that they need to find a different sound than the one that they are using. It is a sound that has been used over and over again. Not to original in that department. I thought the production was O.K., but not blown away by that either. Lets face the fact that this is their first release and that things hopefully will get better for their next release. That of course could be awhile due to the fact that all the members of “MONOLITH DEATHCULT” are involved in other musical projects. Give it a listen. Not a bad Cd. Also not a great one

note: 6/10

Tracklist

1) Doomed to Slaughter
2) Forest Of Flesh
3) Cathedral Of Corpses
4) The Malleus Maleficarum Manuscript
5) The Apotheosis
6) The Deserved Reputation Of Cruelty
7) The Desecration Of The Black Stone
8) Der Kriegmeister
9) Colosseum Carnage

Line-up

Robin Kok- Fretless & Vox
Martijn Moes- Guitar
Michiel Dekker- Guitar and Vox
Sjoerd Visch- Blastbeat Battery