Raum Kingdom are a sludge/post-metal band from Ireland and this is their second album.
I haven’t caught up with Raum Kingdom since their self-titled 2014 debut EP, so I thought it was overdue that I revisited their work. Monarch contains 43 minutes of sludgy post-metal, and reveals a band that are confident and capable in their chosen genre.
Raum Kingdom have a pulverising sound that they use to crush the listener. It’s not all pure heaviness here by any means, but it certainly forms the bedrock of Monarch that everything else is built on top of. In fact, some of the best material on Monarch comes from the more nuanced and emotive side of the band. Swallowtail is a great example of this, where the heaviness is bent towards the portrayal of emotion, and the song is textured and boasts affecting clean singing.
The post-metal build/release mechanic is well-utilised, and there’s a grunge feel to some of the lighter parts of the songs, (especially when clean vocals are used – opener Red Admiral has some good instances of this), that I like. Acidic screams provide a focal point for the music’s heaviosity, while around this the band embed atmosphere, emotion, and hypnotic charms. Raum Kingdom know how to fashion music that’s both atmospherically immersive and thunderingly punishing.
The promo blurb states that Monarch is for fans of Neurosis, Isis, Sumac, Minsk, Amenra, and Yob, and I would tend to agree. If you’re partial to bands that wade in these sort of sludge/post-metal waters, then check out Raum Kingdom’s latest release.
Highly recommended.
Wonderbox Metal 