Gospel of Despair

Bradford’s Monolith Cult were a classic example of the epic doom variety. Their second (and sadly last) LP ‘The Gospel of Despair’ released in 2017 saw them tighten up their sound into a streamlined battering ram of meaty yet melodic riffs straight from the book of Candlemass. But what made Monolith Cult stand apart from many Candlemass clones was a drive and bounce to the rhythms that gave the music more momentum. The sluggish, glacial musical developments is something many newcomers to any form of doom find off putting. Monolith Cult make do with not being the slowest out there, sticking to more of a marching tempo for long stretches of this album.

The production is sensitive to this aspect of their sound. The guitar tone is fat but sharp enough to carry some of the more intricate lead melodies that contribute to their approach to building narratives. Many of them have an almost folky twang to them. One can envisage them played at twice the tempo on a fiddle and they suddenly sound almost jolly. They are, however, married with many chugging, more basic riffs made up of power chords bolstered by pounding drums. Speaking of which, the drum sound, much like the guitars, has enough impact to do justice to the traditional heavy qualities to this music without overpowering the sound in the faster passages of this album. Vocals are straight from the book of classic heavy metal. They soar above the riffs with that intense, metal crooning style that some find so overbearing. And it cannot be denied that there is no let up in their intensity. Sure, they are strong, melodic, and fully showcase Bryan Outlaw’s vocal range, but there is no soft touch to them. Now, for the purpose of ‘The Gospel of Despair’ that may not be a problem. But at times it becomes overbearing. Especially when he follows the guitar melodies and things become clunky. His voice has such a presence that it works best when set to more basic guitar lines and its free to pick out its own melody.

Monolith Cult have worked enough variation and imagination into these tracks to the point where overly extended solos are not necessary. This definitely fits within the catalogue of epic doom, but most of the tracks feel pretty tight and punchy, none of them overstay their welcome, and most offer a fine balance between melody, heaviness, and rhythmic bounce to make the overly laboured trappings of epic music surplus to requirements.

Originally published at Hate Meditations

The UK’s Monolith Cult emerge out of obscurity with a helping of old school doom metal on Gospel of Despair. In a lot of ways, this is like a tribute to the retro doom sound with an operatic vocal flair a-la Candlemass. If you liked that kind of very thick and flamboyant doom, then I could understand the attraction to an album like Gospel of Despair. This is the kind of slow-burning music that makes for a very trudging and negative kind of metal. Gospel of Despair harks back to an older doom style with plenty of faith in the stern and grim.

If we're going to start off describing what this sounds like, picture a mixture of Sabbath-isms and Goatsnake-like rhythms with a vocalist that calls Candlemass to mind. The guitars are thick and rumbly with the singer sounding fairly bleak despite his high voice and operatic mannerisms. It's an interesting blend of influences on display here. We get a decent spin on an older style with Monolith Cult paying a hefty tribute to the old masters. It's a decent recreation of epic doom that has proven its strength in the past.

With Gospel of Despair, we get a lot of trudging, dark songs that look for more of a balance between putting their strength into the guitars and the vocals. One thing Gospel does right is start off on its strongest tracks with the first two tracks, “Disconnection Syndrome” and “Gospel of Despair” having some good trudging riffs in a robust guitar tone and some morose and melodic vocal lines that really help the mood. The album as a whole gives us some moody riffing and a somewhat enjoyably campy negative aura. However, variety in the songs is sparse and the music's strength fades as the album goes on. The later songs have interesting moments, but come off as samey. They could actually be catchy with just a more lively approach and less wandering. The quality does not slide much, but whereas you'll probably return to the first two tracks, the rest are decent and thunderous, but are less noticeable and more sluggish.

Monolith Cult on Gospel of Despair show off some great riffing and vocal talent, but could really take towards writing some tighter and more varied songs to make their brand of epic doom shine more like the Candlemass and Goatsnake they seem to be emulating. Gospel is a solid tribute to the old style of doom. It's morose and gloomy with its lumbering passages. More liveliness, variance, and emotion could do wonders for these guys. They have the voice and the tone to be great, but this album and it's songs are simply just decent.

The UK boasts its fair lot of doom/sludge bands, even though most of them are of the gritty variety (Iron Monkey, Moss, Conan etc.) – but I find my home country is lacking in the more traditional epic doom department. In fact, the whole world could do with more Candlemass-inspired doom metal for all humanity to mourn over. Thank Messiah (you know which one I mean) for the Yorkshiremen of Monolith Cult, whose first album Run From The Light was a chunky slab of bass-heavy doom with decent variety and a real thick texture. But that was four whole years ago! So here in 2017, has much changed in the Monolith Cult camp as they prepare to unleash the sophomore Gospel Of Despair? Save for a new guitarist, things look to be business as usual this time round. That doesn’t mean it’s worth skipping, oh no…

The formula remains similar: huge hulking riffs, sorrowful melodies, crooning vocals, steady tempos and a melancholy atmosphere. However, there are some expansions in sound along the way. The production quality is noticeably much improved. The bass isn’t overpowering everything; the guitars are evenly balanced and veritably hefty; the drums crash around in the distance with plenty of reverb, and Bry’s vocals slide into the mix perfectly without confronting one’s ears. The harmonized guitars elevate each riff to top grade standard, and there are some choral vocals thrown in here and there for more tonal variety. The title-track shows off the best of their expansive melody writing skills; and also pushes the pace to meet the briskest of doom acts. This contrasts wonderfully with its follow-up “Kings Of All That’s Lost”, which absolutely crushes using ultra-slow chugs and a super-satisfying tempo change six and a half minutes in. That’s headbang heaven, my friends!

If there’s any fault to be pointed out, it’s that Gospel Of Despair is a tad monotone. Any decent Candlemass or Solitude Aeturnus album will be riff-heavy, but laden with moments of clarity which provide respite from the maelstrom that surrounds. Brief interlude “Chothia In Memorium” makes an attempt at this, but even that remains distorted. A bit of clean picking or ‘bass only’ sections would’ve gone a long way. Bry’s vocals, whilst incredibly effective and stylistically appropriate, are consistently in his mid-range. I’d have loved to hear more lower tones or perhaps explore his falsetto at some point. Thankfully, he is emotive enough to back a punch behind the grievous lyrics – especially in “Complicit In Your Own Abuse”. This track also fills the bag o’ riffs up to the brim, going full-on Leif Edling at 4:10.

Gospel Of Despair is the ideal length for an epic doom LP, meaning each track is enough of a journey in itself without the entire affair overstaying its welcome. Between five and eight minutes lets each composition breathe enough whilst producing some stellar highlights. The 3:53 point in “Sympathy For The Living” is one of the best riffs of 2017, and utterly snaps my neck every time I hear it; the meaty pre-chorus in “Death Means Nothing” always gets my fist pumping; and I love that the very first thing on the album is a swinging groove like “Disconnection Syndrome”. Monolith Cult appear to be improving brick by brick as each album constructs the foundation to their sprawling sound. Gospel Of Despair is a seriously impressive chunk of melodic doom metal which should have all fans of the genre champing at the bit. And I, for one, can’t wait for the next one.