ALBUM REVIEW: Monolith Cult - "Gospel of Despair"

By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/11/2017

Label: Transcending Records

Monolith Cult have turned in seven tracks of downbeat and downtrodden delight.

“Gospel of Despair” CD//DD track listing:

1). Disconnection Syndrome

2). The Gospel of Despair

3). Kings of All That’s Lost

4). Chothia in Memorium

5). Sympathy for the Living

6). Complicit in Your Own Abuse

7). Death Means Nothing

The Review:

Very heavy doom from Bradford, West Yorkshire, Northern England. Well, I guess you are not going to be too cheery if you live there, so why not translate that despair into some top of the range doom metal? Monolith Cult have done just that, turning in seven tracks (well six and an interlude) of downbeat and downtrodden delight.

The opener, “Disconnection Syndrome”, swings a fair bit more than might be expected, but the material is still as heavy as lead. The title track goes down the same path- very heavy, surprisingly groovy and thick with, as the band say, “The Gospel of Despair”. There is no small amount of Paradise Lostto be heard at certain points of the album- “Kings Of All That's Lost” being a good example of tar thick depressive doom favoured by men of metal from Yorkshire. The band don't put a foot wrong over the latter half of the record either- “Sympathy For The Living” has a nice line in time changes and riffs, whilst the vocal performance of Bry Outlaw ("it's my real fucking name") is a great example of doom melodrama.

The final two tracks are the heaviest- “Complicit In Your Own Abuse” is a fantastic eight minutes.  “Death Means Nothing” is as downcast as you would expect. If failure is not an option, but all you've ever known: this album is for you. We're all doomed and Monolith Cultare providing the ultimate soundtrack.

“Gospel of Despair”is available here

Band info: facebook