April 28, 2015 by A.S. Van Dorston

Monolord - Vænir (RidingEasy, 2015) It was only a year ago that Gothenburg, Sweden’s Monolord released their debut, Empress Rising. Putting out a second album in just a year could be some kind of record in the world of psychedelic doom. When some bands wait close to a decade between albums it’s a rare treat these days for that kind of band to have enough hustle to put out new music so soon, without really repeating themselves. Who knows if and when Sleep will ever do another album, so I’m glad we’ve got Monolord. They’ve got those nasty, heavy guitar tones down, while exploring varying psychedelic sounds to keep the songs diverse and memorable enough. On cuts like the 16:59 title track and the short atmospheric interlude, “The Cosmic Silence” that leads up to it, they’re clearly progressing, if incrementally. My favorite track is probably the forlorn “We Will Burn,” which kind of summarizes their past work and distills it into their best song yet. “Nuclear Death” plods and bludgeons with a weight that reminds me of Conan. Is it important that they tweak their sound? Not necessarily. Some imaginative songwriting and progressive arrangements can keep things interesting for quite a while. To be honest the masked vocals that blend into the scenery could use some improvement. A more ballsy, emotive delivery could help, though at this moment, the album is an excellent snapshot of a band primed for some spinecrushing live shows. It’ll be interesting to see if they keep experimenting with their sound like Electric Wizard and inevitably end up with some failures, or continue to mine these deliciously heavy, fuzzed out tones. Ultimately with Monolord, I feel my listening sessions are most productive when I take a break from analyzing and just surrender to the vibrations.