apanthropy

Deamonolith
The Monolithic Cult of Death
Godz ov War Productions/Ancient Dead Productions
Released: 10/18/24

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1 – The Afterfall
2 – The Ultimate Solution
3 – The Fall, The Reek & Forlornness
4 – The Acknowledgment
5 – Conquerors of the Void
6 – When All Has Been Done
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Hailing from Warsaw, Poland and armed with a lethal strain of progressive Death Metal, Deamonolith are a relatively newer group on the scene, having formed in 2022. The Monolithic Cult of Death is their first formal release, issued through Godz ov War Productions and co-released with Ancient Dead Productions. Creatively risky and compositionally heavy, Deamonolith have created something that feels wicked, imperialistic, and cruel.

Deamonolith took a creative gamble by releasing what is, essentially, one large 35+ minute long song. In most conventional music, be it heavy metal or otherwise, albums are comprised of songs that have their own lifespans or life cycles, through intros, verses, choruses, bridges, breakdowns, and so on. The Monolithic Cult of Death is broken down into six segments, each representing narration from various characters within the music. For over half an hour, the band delivers an unbroken stream of punishingly heavy music with very little solace and sonic relief. Convention is thrown out the window here, instead of intros, choruses, and verses, there are vocal narrations and long-form ideas being executed, The Monolithic Cult of Death plays out like a sonic story, with a plot, characters, and vocal motifs. Examining the lyrics, one will confront a stark and bleak story revolving around collapse and death of the human race, religious salvation, and bleak reality of nothingness at the end of it all.

Opening with ‘The Afterfall,’ the song begins with an extended intro segment of pianos and ambient noise, followed by decadent riff work and slower drums that march the song forward. After the intro segment, what follows is well-sculpted death metal. Churning guitars, blasting drums, and throaty barking vocals. ‘The Ultimate Solution’ is a death thrash ripper with ugly bursts of cacophony towards the end. ‘The Fall, The Reek & Forlornness’ is an atomic burst of blast beats early on that descends into mid-tempo despondency. ‘The Acknowledgement’ opens with a very thrash-forward riff and features both exceptional melodicism in some areas and absolute crushing fervor in others.

‘Conquerors of the Void,’ is the black sheep of the album, whose segment lasts over 12 minutes in length. Buried within is more thrash-forward riffing, an extended ambient section of clean guitars and piano, and closing flurries of single-note tremolo melodicism. There’s even a saxophone thrown into the mix!

Ending the record is ‘When All Has Been Done,’ an extended outro segment of progressive-minded death metal and more ambient noise that leads to the album’s close.

The production on The Monolithic Cult of Death favors both drum and vocal presence, with the mix being heavy on both. While being very sonically crowded at times, the riff work never loses its intensity, and the individual instrumentation always remains clear and crisp. This is definitely a treat to listen to on larger stereo systems.

The Monolithic Cult of Death was a creative risk that paid off immensely. For a band to publish such sinister long-form death metal, a bestial rancor spanning more than half an hour of unbroken carnage, is a creative challenge that most bands are not equipped to handle. Deamonolith pulled it off with great execution, superior composition, and uncompromising riff work.

Label: Godz ov War Productions
Label: Ancient Dead Productions
Band: Deamonolith

This review was originally written for Voices from the Darkside.

-AJK