Release
date: September 29th
2015. Label: Self Released. Formats: CD/DD/Vinyl
Architects
Of The Void: Tracklisting
1.Umbral
Vale
2.Philosopher's
Blade
3.The
Mithriditist
4.Lord
of Bones
5.Black
Days Of...
6.Between
Oder and the Vistula
7.Architects
of the Void
Band
Members:
Jordan
Nalley - Vocals
Matt
Price - Guitar, vocals
Jason
"Cas" Casanova - Bass
Chase
Manhattan - Drums
Review:
Behold
The Monolith return with their eagerly awaited 3rd album –
Architects Of The Void. This is an album I didn’t expect to see
especially after the tragic loss of bassist/vocalist Kevin McDade.
I’m a huge fan of Kevin’s work on the first two Behold The
Monolith releases. Defender, Redeemist is one of the best
Sludge/Stoner Metal albums of 2012. It’s an album I listen to this
very day.
The
guys could of called it quits and moved onto other things. However,
they wisely decided to regroup and get new members to join the band.
Now we have Jordan on Vox and Jason on bass. Architects Of The Void
is a different sound to Defender, Reedemist whilst still offering the
familiar riffs they created on their acclaimed earlier releases.
Behold The Monolith offer a more blackened doom/thrash style of sound
on this album and it’s a heavy as heck experience you will find
very hard to beat.
Opening
track – Umbral Vale – perfectly creates a bleak mood of warped
blackened doom metal matched against a doomier psychedelic
atmospheric sound. It’s one of the albums shortest tracks but it
shows you what to expect for the rest of the album.
Second
track – Philosopher’s Blade – has a slight Mastodon progressive
feel near the start though the band soon return to their own style of
Blackened Doom/Thrash as the vocals changes the atmosphere to one of
bleak darkness. Shades of Prog Metal and Stoner Metal riffs create a
sense of approaching doom with the faster style of Thrash guitar
based sounds matched against the heavy pounding drums. Philospher’s
Blade is undeniably heavy and if you dig 80s style Thrash/Speed Metal
then Behold The Monolith has that area covered. As this is one of the
fastest and most furious songs I’ve heard this year. It can be
quite trippy at times with the band offering a different style of
progressive metal that you maybe used to.
Third
track – The Mithridtist – is perhaps the albums darkest and most
experimental song as the band cannot seem to settle on a set sound.
The vocals drift from Death based growls to a more stripped back prog
rock feel that has shades of Mastodon around them. This is one of the
albums standout tracks as it shows you how creative and undeniably
heavy the band actually is.
Fourth
track – Lord Of Bones – is another creepy and dramatic slice of
Psych based Doom/Sludge/Thrash craziness as the band plays some of
the albums heaviest moments. The vocals can be hard to understand at
times but shouldn’t spoil your enjoyment of the song. Behold The
Monolith offer an onslaught of brutally played noises towards the end
of the song. It’s the quieter psych based vibes that impressed me
the most as the band try something different with their sound.
Fifth
track – Black Days Of – is a short track that offers a collection
of ambient based noises and sounds. It’s quite a gloomy and highly
atmospheric little number. Though the band could of easily excluded
this song from the album as it doesn’t really offer anything to the
overall feel of the album.
Sixth
track – Between Oder And The Vistula – is pure thrash metal
carnage as the band play a more violent approach compared to the
other songs on the album. It has an almost death-metal feel near the
beginning of the song, though signs of the albums earlier Psych
Sludge/Stoner Metal sounds do make an appearance. Lead vocalist –
Jordan – has impressed me through out this album as he’s shown
what a great vocalist he is. This is the song where Jordan impresses
the most as he has such a dynamic and powerful range.
Finally
we arrive to the final battle with Behold The Monolith and what a
battle they have in store for us. 14:47 minutes of pure heavy metal
fury by the name of Architects Of The Void. Behold The Monolith’s
style of Doom, Thrash, Prog Metal, Stoner and Sludge is put to great
use as this song is a masterclass in progressive metal modern sounds.
The vocals have a slight stripped back feel that perfectly matches
the different styles of sounds that the band create here.
Architects
Of The Void is perhaps Behold The Monolith’s daring and most
challenging album to date. It's a powerful and brilliant record that
you simply cannot ignore. This album can be classed as one of the
years finest heavy metal albums.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks
to Clawhammer PR for the promo. Architects Of The Void will be
released on CD/DD/Vinyl on 29th Sept 2015.
Links:
