Monolith Cult - Gospel of Despair

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In our days, Doom Metal is not as evident as it was some years ago. Giants as CANDLEMASS helped the genre to reach a broader public in the Metal scene, but to redefine some aspects of it as well. Today, it’s truly hard to find a Doom Metal band without Stoner Rock influences, so we can say that MONOLITH CULT is one of them, and their second full length, “Gospel of Despair” is a fine work.

As said above, their solid musical work is based on some Stoner Rock influences, with that raw sound and abrasive tunes in the way BLACK SABBATH used to be on their earlier works. But their main difference is on melodic and very good vocals’ tunes (in a way that reminds a lot Warrel Dane’s used to sing in his low tunes), that fits perfectly on the instrumental basis. Although their work isn’t something new, it’s truly good. On the sound production, we can hear that the efforts were done in a way to mix the crude tunes of Stoner Rock/Metal with fine and listenable melodies. So the sound quality mixed the moldy and raw tunes with a very good level of sound clarity, what turns the comprehension of the sound very easy.

On their seven long songs, they show a very good work that can sound accessible in many moments. But the melodic moments and harsh feelings of “The Gospel of Despair” make a wonderful contrast (and how the guitars are great), the nasty and brutally heavy “Kings of All that’s Lost” (the work of bass guitar and drums on the rhythmic session is excellent), the musical accessibility show in some melodies of “Sympathy for the Living”, and the slow paced bitterness of “Death Means Nothing” can be named as the finest moments of the album. “Gospel of Despair” is not here to be a new method of Doom Metal, but I believe that in the near future, MONOLITH CULT can be a great name on the genre.

Originality: 7
Songwriting: 10
Memorability: 8
Production: 8