Title: MONSTERWORKS - Singularity
Description: MONSTERWORKS - Singularity
Description: MONSTERWORKS - Singularity
metal4life - May 30, 2009 01:16 PM (GMT)
MONSTERWORKS
Singularity
Casket 2009
Monsterworks as a band name has me thinking stoner/sludge metal or heavy grinding nu-rock/metal but I guess one shouldn't read too much into a name as Monsterworks are very far from those musical styles in reality. They are in fact a very hard band to pigeonhole and I guess they like it that way. The promo sheet blurb excites the listener and draws you in completely, making you very eager to get that round piece of plastic into your player and pressing play in double quick fashion.
So what type of metal do Monsterworks play you ask. Well it's definitely heavy influenced by Devin Townsend's myriad of heavier projects mixed with a few elements of his more relaxed songs. I also hear sections of Fear Factory on their more mechanical songs and also Brit cyber thrashers Biomechanical on the aggressive parts. There are certain parts which really defy easy categorization also going off at tangents. To my surprise the band are originally Kiwis although seemingly now based in London and they have already have a number of albums under their belts. I guess they never really made it as this is the first I've heard of them to be honest. The band consists of four guys who as a whole make a huge all encompassing sound, very similar to the sound that Devin get's on his albums. Huge walls of guitars, thundering brooding dark atmospheres, screeching high and low aggressive vocals plus the obligatory hammering drumwork all wrapped up in swathes of lush keyboard work.
Not having any idea what their previous material sounds like, I have to judge the music on Singularity as an entity of it's own. On that basis I can say that the band is playing metal with high levels of instrumentation and production. This album is based on a fictional sci-fi concept which is pretty interesting and cool to follow with the lyric sheet. The story traverses across galaxies with a tale of religion, war between good and evil and treachery set in the far flung moons of Saturn.
The music on this CD is quite interesting to listen to but something is missing for me. I think it's the lack of genuine killer melodic riffing that makes it quite a hard going disk. There is not much in the way of hooks for the listener to grab on to. There are definitely songs and parts which are very cool to listen to but soon they are replaced by the wall of sound approach of grinding thrash riffs with heavy vocals. Actually I should mention the dual vocal style which sees a very high pitched Halfordesque screamer and a deep and heavy growler bellow lines alternately or even in unison. A perfect example of this is in the track Blastnet which is perhaps my favourite song on the CD. There is a glorious heavy dual vocal part in that track backed by a very melodic riff which is really quite rare on the whole.
Kingdom of Heathen is a track which sees the band reign in some of the blasting for a more midpaced and catchier approach and is all the better for it. This song is made for the headbangers out there with it's nagging groove and thumping basslines. Meanwhile is quite a nice track with a more restrained vocal and a grander less pummeling sound.
If you are a fan of Devin Townsend's many incarnations then you seriously need to listen to this disk. It's ambitious and mind expanding to the core and takes you on a hell of a journey by the end even if it is kick and screaming on occasions. I don't consider myself a fan of overly chaotic dense music and yet this album by Monsterworks is somehow very compelling and grabs the listener from the word go even though I can't say I was enjoying it but I also never had the urge to skip either.
It's an intense ride with peaks and troughs galore with both aggression and more introspective moments surfacing throughout. This is one of those disks that will enthrall some metalheads and turn off others who seek something more immediate or melodic. I am rather in the middle to be honest, with perhaps in the end settling in the latter camp. Having said that it is definitely a work which has obviously taken the band a lot of hard work to accomplish and for that they must be applauded. Like I said if you are a fan of dense and moody epic heavy metal ala that Canadian nutjob, Mr. Townsend then give this one a bash, I think you'll like it.
© Pirage Forsi
Rating *** (3.0/5.0)
Buy @ Amazon
Singularity
Casket 2009
Monsterworks as a band name has me thinking stoner/sludge metal or heavy grinding nu-rock/metal but I guess one shouldn't read too much into a name as Monsterworks are very far from those musical styles in reality. They are in fact a very hard band to pigeonhole and I guess they like it that way. The promo sheet blurb excites the listener and draws you in completely, making you very eager to get that round piece of plastic into your player and pressing play in double quick fashion.
So what type of metal do Monsterworks play you ask. Well it's definitely heavy influenced by Devin Townsend's myriad of heavier projects mixed with a few elements of his more relaxed songs. I also hear sections of Fear Factory on their more mechanical songs and also Brit cyber thrashers Biomechanical on the aggressive parts. There are certain parts which really defy easy categorization also going off at tangents. To my surprise the band are originally Kiwis although seemingly now based in London and they have already have a number of albums under their belts. I guess they never really made it as this is the first I've heard of them to be honest. The band consists of four guys who as a whole make a huge all encompassing sound, very similar to the sound that Devin get's on his albums. Huge walls of guitars, thundering brooding dark atmospheres, screeching high and low aggressive vocals plus the obligatory hammering drumwork all wrapped up in swathes of lush keyboard work.
Not having any idea what their previous material sounds like, I have to judge the music on Singularity as an entity of it's own. On that basis I can say that the band is playing metal with high levels of instrumentation and production. This album is based on a fictional sci-fi concept which is pretty interesting and cool to follow with the lyric sheet. The story traverses across galaxies with a tale of religion, war between good and evil and treachery set in the far flung moons of Saturn.
The music on this CD is quite interesting to listen to but something is missing for me. I think it's the lack of genuine killer melodic riffing that makes it quite a hard going disk. There is not much in the way of hooks for the listener to grab on to. There are definitely songs and parts which are very cool to listen to but soon they are replaced by the wall of sound approach of grinding thrash riffs with heavy vocals. Actually I should mention the dual vocal style which sees a very high pitched Halfordesque screamer and a deep and heavy growler bellow lines alternately or even in unison. A perfect example of this is in the track Blastnet which is perhaps my favourite song on the CD. There is a glorious heavy dual vocal part in that track backed by a very melodic riff which is really quite rare on the whole.
Kingdom of Heathen is a track which sees the band reign in some of the blasting for a more midpaced and catchier approach and is all the better for it. This song is made for the headbangers out there with it's nagging groove and thumping basslines. Meanwhile is quite a nice track with a more restrained vocal and a grander less pummeling sound.
If you are a fan of Devin Townsend's many incarnations then you seriously need to listen to this disk. It's ambitious and mind expanding to the core and takes you on a hell of a journey by the end even if it is kick and screaming on occasions. I don't consider myself a fan of overly chaotic dense music and yet this album by Monsterworks is somehow very compelling and grabs the listener from the word go even though I can't say I was enjoying it but I also never had the urge to skip either.
It's an intense ride with peaks and troughs galore with both aggression and more introspective moments surfacing throughout. This is one of those disks that will enthrall some metalheads and turn off others who seek something more immediate or melodic. I am rather in the middle to be honest, with perhaps in the end settling in the latter camp. Having said that it is definitely a work which has obviously taken the band a lot of hard work to accomplish and for that they must be applauded. Like I said if you are a fan of dense and moody epic heavy metal ala that Canadian nutjob, Mr. Townsend then give this one a bash, I think you'll like it.
© Pirage Forsi
Rating *** (3.0/5.0)
Buy @ Amazon