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 Established in 2008. Unbiased ever since. |
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 A unique approach that can be appreciated.- |
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Monsterworks is a band that blends together Death Metal, Heavy Metal and Thrash Metal into a single, rather unique sound since forming back in 1996. This New Zealand four piece has issued a number of full-lengths over the years, six in total, and a number of them through Casket Music. That same label brings us the band's seventh full-length effort, The God Album, and once again the material is very unique, and often is a very acquired taste. While the album isn't bad, there's just so much to take in at once that it sometimes can make the listener feel burdened, but underneath all of that madness lies a splendid album by a very unrecognized band. As states, the material on here is a little cluttered, but for the most part is quite enjoyable. It just becomes more of an acquired taste at first due to how much is going on with the recording. Right from the start, "Everything You Believe is a Lie" brings on more of a virtuous Heavy Metal feel that builds up and has a slight hint of Death Metal to it. Vocally, it starts with gutteral vocals saying the song's title, then eventually goes into higher pitched shrieks more common to Black Metal, and higher falsettos with the chorus performed in gutterals. The slower pace feels awkward, and on your first listen it may sound a little odd, much like the following track "Monomythic" which is a little heavier, but essentially follows the same kind of formula. Despite how simple all that sounds, it really isn't at times. The music will often retain that Heavy Metal, and include random moments of other styles, and vice versa with the Death and Thrash elements, having parts of the music, as well as vocals, sound as if they are clashing or cluttered. Once you take a step back and appreciate what the band is doing, you'll hear the underlying approach that the band brings in. Everything that clashes actually doesn't, and while at that moment the music may shift it sounds off, it eventually all comes together. For the most part, the band doesn't really have any heavy and fast tracks on here. The material here stands at a very mild mid-tempo pace or slower pace, really pushing the Heavy Metal feel from the opener "Everything You Believe is a Lie". There are times where the band does throw in some faster moments, like the track "The Enemy of My Enemy", and it's genuinely good. The songs go at a great pace and have some real intensity behind them, typically having a harsher vocal approach to match that sound, somewhat similar to what Into Eternity has been doing. The problem here is that these faster tracks eventually give way to more slower sections that often have some virtuous sounding riffs, and it breaks things up a bit too much, and that happens to be the case with "The Enemy of My Enemy" sadly. And then there's "Origin", the song that follows it, which is more a ballad that, at times, seems to have some Sludge influence in the chords, showing moreso a little past half way through the track. While some of the music may feel cluttered at times, none of it is ever bad. Some of the tracks are really catchy. "God" manages to use the transitions between slow and fast paced music nicely to give off an ominous atmosphere that nicely reflects the title of the songs, and will hook the listener even during some of the slower parts of the song, though the faster elements are far better and really hammer them aterial home with a more Melodic Death Metal approach then anything, and the deep clear singing that typically follows these parts are done well enough to be stuck in your head for quite some time. "Reprieve" is an enjoyable song in that it's an acoustic piece that has a strong echo effect on the vocals, and chords that make the song sound more renaissance then anything, and with the children playing at the end, it captures a whole other atmosphere then what some of the songs on here tend to portray. And, of course, the closing track "(Hymn of) Fire" takes the album back into a lighter ground, but the music is done in a sense that it gives a slight tribal feel to it with enough musical changes to keep the song interesting for the whole eight minutes. The God Album definitely is more of an acquired taste then anything due to the amount of styles the band manages to bring into the music. It's far from bad, and many of the songs are good, but some tracks will take some time to grow on the listener. Unfortunately, the faster moments on the recording are far better then the slower ones, and for the most part it seems the band tried to capitalize more on the slower moments for this recording then anything, and it does hurt the album as sometimes these slower moments can become a little repetitive and bland, especially coming right off a faster, more intense moment. But, for the most part, The God Album by Monsterworks is a very different album that tries to stay original and does a nice job of it, though some similarities to today's more popular acts can be picked out. In the long run, it's a fresh idea, and for that alone it's worth checking out. The band clearly has talent, and The God Album nicely shows it. |
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Digital review copy of this release provided by: Casket Music via Clawhammer PR.
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