that's how kids die.

I’ve always been fascinated by power trios.  It surely has something to do with my love of all things raw and stripped down, since it doesn’t get any more stripped down than tres hombres against the world, brandishing only electric instruments and bad attitudes.  The power trio is the bare minimum of musicians needed to produce a full and complete sound within a rock or metal format (although I’m sure there are plenty of duos who would beg to differ… eh, fuck ‘em); it’s all about maximizing the minimal, and I’ve often found that power trios are inherently heavier and more powerful-sounding than these bands that feel the need to have three guitarists, two vocalists, four drummers, a percussionist, a keyboardist, a DJ, an acrobat, a lion tamer, etc… just listen to Motorhead, Venom, High on Fire or Hellhammer and you’ll catch my drift.

Add Behold! The Monolith to that short list of ass-demolishing metal trios.  On their second album Defender, Redeemist, the Los Angeles-based threesome throws just about every conceivable metal sub-genre into their boiling cauldron to create a sound that resembles a stoner rock band playing death/doom, with hints of sludge, thrash and straight-up heavy metal bubbling up around the edges.  It’s a dynamic and devastating concoction that makes you wonder how in the heck this band isn’t signed. Then again, it’s doubtful that any of the chickenshit “big” metal labels would know what to do with a band like Behold! The Monolith, a band who’s music doesn’t fit into a neat little genre box, a band that so clearly prefers to do things on their own terms, a band that’s this flat-out fucking rad.

Indeed, the music on Defender, Redeemist is as rad as the album’s Frazetta-esque album art, a blood-thirsty and battle-ready amalgamation of metal sounds with all of their strengths, none of their weaknesses, plus a propensity for kicking out scads of thick ‘n’ chunky riffage like it’s no big deal.  By now it’s no secret that when I listen to metal, I want riffs like people in Hell want ice water, and Behold! The Monolith delivers, aided and abetted by Billy Anderson’s skull-pummeling yet nuanced production.  I’ve always found Anderson’s work to be a tad on the murky side in the past, but that definitely isn’t the case here; each instrument on Defender, Redeemist is clearly audible and more heavy than a mofo (it’s especially nice to hear the bass guitar so well represented in the mix).

But while the riffs on early tracks such as “Halv King” and “Desolizator” are undoubtedly righteous, Behold! Monolith also know how create compelling atmospheres, and Defender, Redeemist begins to take on more grandiose qualities as it progresses.  Things start really getting epic with “Redeemist,” a thunderous track that over the course of eleven minutes serves as a microcosm for everything Behold! The Monolith is about; noises that sound like giant space creatures mating inside a black hole give way to slow, elephantine power chords while vocalist Kevin McDade bellows about slaying demons.  Later on, the song morphs into a thick-as-molasses mid-paced gallop, only to dissolve into clean guitars, spacey synths and eerie, echoing vocals, before finally switching back to bulldozer mode for the final lap.  It’s an absolutely killer track that showcases Behold! The Monolith’s versatility; this band knows about a million different ways to knock your dick in the dirt, and they aren’t afraid to use ‘em.

The rest of the album is equally impressive; “We are the Worm” “Witch Hunt Supreme” and “Bull Colossi” are doom-laden displays of true metallic grit and crippling heaviness, while “Cast on the Black – Lamentor – Guided by the Southern Cross” is another epic, smoked-out slugfest with the Devil.  Each track on Defender, Redeemist has its own character, and the band isn’t shy about lacing their songwriting with hooks aplenty.  Let’s face it, the fucked up fact is that songs you can tell apart aren’t exactly a given in today’s cookie-cutter metal climate (another dead horse I’ve no doubt beaten to a bloody pulp), making it all the more refreshing to uh, behold Behold! The Monolith’s dedication to the craft, which echoes the badass power trio ethos of the aforementioned High on Fire, Hellhammer, etc.  The band not only maximizes the minimal throughout Defender, Redeemist, they also maximize the memorability, and as a result the headbangability.

It isn’t everyday that a band comes storming out of the blue and totally blows me away, but that’s exactly what Behold! The Monolith has done with Defender, Redeemist (seriously, where the hell did these guys come from?!).  Wielding an arsenal of riffs that will crush you to dust amidst a hazy yet ultra-heavy atmosphere, this hellish power trio have created an album that lays waste to the weak and utterly false garbage that “Heavy Metal Inc” continues to attempt to shove down our throats and proves that DIY isn’t dead.  It’s the perfect soundtrack for heading out to war against the forces of evil, or just kicking back to smoke a little space-grass.

http://beholdthemonolith.com

This entry was posted on 01/25/2012 at 10:08 pm and is filed under death metal, doom, hard rock, heavy metal, Metal, Music, Reviews, rock, sludge, stoner rock with tags Behold! The Monolith, California, death metal, doom, hard rock, heavy metal, Los Angeles, Metal, Music, Reviews, rock, sludge, stoner rock, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.