Band:	Behold! The Monolith
Album:	Defender, Redeemist
Style:	Doom metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	January 23, 2012
A review by:	R'Vannith

01. Guardian's Procession
02. Halv King
03. Desolizator
04. Redeemist
05. We Are the Worm
06. Witch Hunt Supreme
07. Cast On The Black/Lamentor/Guided By The Southern Cross
08. Bull Colossi

Behold! It's big, it's heavy and it's descending from the skies to flatten you in an unrelenting rain. Behold! It's the Monolith! The Defender, Redeemist comes to claim your ears with its volatile concoction of stoner riffs riding atop a behemoth of doom licked sludge.

This album changes face at the drop of a hat from the all weapons unholstered approach of tracks like "Halv King" and "We Are The Worm" to the immense and lurking presence of the three part "Cast On The Black/Lamentor/Guided By The Southern Cross." The flattening finale "Bull Colossi" straddles the line between sludge and stoner, more than living up to its title.

With some enticingly fat and fuzzy guitar work which works wonders as it feeds rockin' stoner riffs the listener may find it difficult to leave them and move into those more gradually hammered out doom paced tracks. The contrast can be difficult to accustom oneself to and despite my battered and bruised position from the bottom of the crater created by the impact I can't help but request of the Defender, Redeemist "?..could you repeat that?"

Yet the album flows through seamlessly, never ceasing and never bringing their visceral assault to a complete standstill even in those moments of deathly quiet. These merely serve as false hope before returning with another volley of sludge dripping stoner goodness. Sounding sleek and precise yet earthy and rough the production is a valuable asset which grants an aggressive edge to all elements within, especially on such moments as the chasmic guitarline which runs about midway through "Desolizator."

The fleeting whispers and supplementary inclusion of spoken word are audible and grant something of an ominous feel as they are placed in conjunction with the terrific riffs. The vocals are dependable as well as adaptive as they issue forth in stoner fashion before making a slightly harsher turn to accompany the more sludge laden stretches.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say. So you'd best Behold! I'll be damned if this thing could be described as beautiful though.