Monolord are a doom metal band from Sweden and this is their sixth album.
If you have never encountered Monolord before, then prepare yourself for classic doom metal shenanigans, seasoned with a contemporary delivery. The promo blurb should sort you out as a decent starting point, stating that the 43-minute Neverending is for fans of bands like Electric Wizard, Sleep, Windhand, Black Sabbath, Baroness, Yob, Red Fang, and Mastodon. Good company to keep.
The power of The Riff is strong with Monolord. With production values that suit the band’s ambitions, and strong songwriting throughout, Neverending is very enjoyable and holds the listener’s interest without issue.
Neverending is a strong record. Monolord’s doom and groove approach is peppered with melodic highlights and slow-burning hooks. Throw in vocals that add a feeling-rich layer, and you have a compelling musical package to eagerly tear open.
The songs benefit from doomy dynamics and considered structuring, allowing Monolord to maintain high quality levels through slower doom epics like Inside a Collider, or faster upbeat cuts like You Bastard, (which is imbued with a little Goya-like character). In places the band make some mood-focused atmospheric detours, (Oozing Wound is a great example), or leave the distortion behind for a while, (such as in Crystal Bridge, which also sports a killer Entombed-esque riff), and these are as well-received as they are effective.
The final track unexpectedly sees the Monolord singer taking a back seat. Instead, main vocal duties are fulfilled by the Grave singer Jörgen Sandström, whose monstrous voice lends Monolord an air of threat and power that’s extremely engaging.
Overall, this is a tight, well-crafted bunch of songs. Neverending is a well-rounded slab of doom, mixing granite-hard riffs with an emotive foundation. There is little in the way of fat or filler, just choice cuts of tasty meaty distorted goodness. Monolord have always delivered the goods, but their latest collection of songs is a particularly potent example of what they are capable of.
Very highly recommended for any fan of doom. Play this again and again, and you’ll reap many rewards.
Wonderbox Metal 