In Mourning - Monolith review
| Band: | In Mourning |
| Album: | Monolith |
| Style: | Melodic death metal, Progressive metal |
| Release date: | January 25, 2010 |
| Guest review by: | K✞ulu |
01. For You To Know
02. Debris
03. The Poet And The Painter Of Souls
04. The Smoke
05. A Shade Of Plague
06. With You Came Silence
07. Pale Eye Revelation
08. The Final Solution (Entering The Black Lodge)
Monolith is a huge freaking disappointment. Not that I was blown away by In Mourning's previous effort but because this is probably the number one album in terms of wasted potential. Seriously, friends, there are soooo many good, smart, catchy and even mind-blowing riffs and leads on this album, which are completely ruined by boring retreats to dragging, recurring, "sentimental" mid-paced melodies. Take track one: what initially sounds like something heavy and bombastic is later ruined by the higher-register-guitar-driven whiny chorus, and then later saved again by a great bridge, and then ruined again... So many times have I found myself banging my head to some great grooves in a particular song only to be pissed off at how the song develops later ("Pale Eye Revelation") or being initially bored and then taken by surprise ("With You Came Silence"). Inconsistency...
The guys from In Mourning do try to make things not so straight (aka "progressive"), but then they often make songs drag just too much. They remind me of Opeth ("The Smoke" sounds like something you would hear on Deliverance), but they just don't know how to make the "complexity" work yet, at least not always. My dissatisfaction is not essentially with the songs being too long but with this duration being filled with some stock stuff, which is the problem I found with Be'lakor's latest album (also highly praised). I also get the "I-heard-it-before" feeling a few times on the album but who is immune to Dark Tranquility's influences after all?
Of course I can't say that these guys suck as there is definitely a lot of potential and talent in them, as well as ability in songwriting, and this album proves it. With this said, there is still plenty of room to make this record better. There are no problems with the mix on Monolith or with the members' command of their instruments or even with their ideas. My only plea to these guys would be to implement those ideas into songs that wouldn't lose momentum and maintain diversity. I wish In Mourning all the best and I do expect to hear some great, more consistent material from them in future.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 9 |
Written by K✞ulu | 18.12.2010
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
N/A
N/A
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Rating: N/A |
Progressive Melodic Death metal Recorded: Black Lounge Studio, Sweden 2009 Label: Pulverised Records Total Running Time: 57:04 Here we have an album that will undoubtedly make it to a lot of end of year lists. And when I say a lot, I actually mean a lot. Mark my words. Lately I'm not too much into either prog or melodeath. But this may well be one of the best progressive melodic death metal albums I've heard in, oh I don't know, ever. The brutal truth is that In Mourning knocked the ball right out of the park with this one. Seriously, this album rocks so fucking hard I can't even begin to tell you. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 13
Visited by: 121 users
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2573  |
Written by [user id=100467] on 18.12.2010 at 18:13 Well, the thing is all of the songs on this album have very good moments and solos and all that, but then there were many boring parts. Do give it a comprehensive listen though. You will find some unforgettable hooks all over the album.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| BehzadSh Posts: 94  |
Written by K✞ulu on 18.12.2010 at 18:25 yeah I agree! Sometimes this album is boring for me, specially "Pale Eye Revelation" and "With You Came Silence", but sometimes I cannot hear anything else but this album.
---- http://www.last.fm/user/behzadsh
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| Fleshcrawl Posts: 9  |
I still fail to see why everyone is comparing Opeth and In Mourning to each other, they sound nothing alike.
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2573 |
Written by Fleshcrawl on 27.12.2010 at 10:11 Maybe you haven't listened to Opeth enough because In Mourning definitely have a similar vibe in their music. "The Smoke" as I mentioned in the review sounds quite like an Opeth song. They also alternate between growl and clean singing as well as heavy and clean passages.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by [user id=98889] on 03.01.2011 at 13:15 I agree I also fail to see the similarities. And also not in vibe. The only similarity between the two is that both play metal 
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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Account deleted Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 03.01.2011 at 13:20 Very true, I guess it's easier for people to digest music if they have some 'framework' to compare it with 
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| Kuroboshi Posts: 1201  |
Personally I felt that the variation (aka slow parts) in this album is what makes it so awesome.
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| Melodeathmetal Posts: 3 |
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| Deadmeat Necrobutcher Posts: 2437  |
I am on the first spins of this album and I feel this review is 100% spot on. Congrats for the review, though I hope their next albums won't need such reviews, cause this guys really have potential...
---- Υou've sold your human essence to the cold world of dead and empty things... You're SOLD!
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