A monolithic colossal of a beast of a behemoth, Monolord’s Vaenir is like Masters Of Reality Mach 2 (The album, not the band) with touches of Kyuss and The Sword thrown in for good measure. Within its’ six super-sized tracks (Except for the lone track which falls under the three minute mark), Monolord create an epic sophomore slab that will easily stand out as one of the best heavy releases of 2015.
From the moment “Cursing The One” crashes through your speakers, a wall of sound greets listeners for an intense journey that only lets up once the final chords of the title track are strummed at the bitter end. Getting back to “Cursing The One”, if this is your first introduction to Monolord then consider yourself hooked after you finish these nine minutes and hear the riffs and melodies concocted by Thomas Jager, Esben Willems, and Mika Hakki. Jager’s riffs immediately stand out as does his effects-laden voice on this cut which walks the line between early Ozzy and John Garcia’s “Mondo Generator” performance.
Willems, on the other hand, is a veritable force switching from heavy bashing one moment and then syncing into a nice groove with bassist Mika Hakki on “We Will Burn” before meshing with Jager for a riff-led hypnotic breakdown. Later on, “Died a Million Times”, like “We Will Burn”, takes a rad turn halfway through while “The Cosmic Silence” shares some DNA with “Solitude” off the aforementioned Masters Of Reality. Looking for something a little less cerebral? Monolord’s got you covered there, too, with the doom-fueled sludge of “Nuclear Death”.
Vaenir will be unleashed through Riding Easy Records on April 28th. You can pre-order your copy here and here. For more on Monolord, head over here.