The phrase “death metal supergroup” is liable to instil a sense of trepidation into the most ardent acolyte of gore. Will it be too deathy? Not deathy enough? Too weird? A self-indulgent barrage of instruments all turned up too loud? Or – worst of all – not even death metal?
Blood Monolith are a death metal supergroup whose members all adhere to the manifesto: filthy blastbeats, sputum-soaked roars, and a guitar tone that sound like an old circular saw going through cheap wood.
And it works. It comes across as a tribute to the golden era of the genre, way back in the 20th century when groups like a Chris Barnes-fronted Cannibal Corpse, Broken Hope and Deicide stalked the earth.
From the very first blastbeat barrage of ‘Trepanation Worm’ to the spooky sample at the end of ‘Pyroklesis’ telling us that “in one of the countless of billions of galaxies lies a medium-sized star and one of its satellites, a green insignificant planet, is now dead”, it is a frenzy of eight tracks that pummel the listener for just under half an hour.
And the band sound like they are having a whale of a time. It is interesting to note that out of all the members, only guitarist Tommy Wall of Undeath is playing a similar racket to his main band. The others are Shelby Lerno of Nails on vocals, Nolan from Genocide Pact and Shitstorm on bass and Aidan Tydings-Lynch of Deliriant Nerve on drums – all more from the abrasive, sludgy, grindcore end of the noisy music spectrum. And the influences of the grindier musicians are there – take ‘Cleansing’, a two-and-a-bit-minute maelstrom of D-beats, double kicks and a martial breakdown which is extremely satisfying.
And maybe that is why that despite the clear old-school influences, it sounds as fresh as a recently buried mouse (excuse the metaphor, but I have cats and I insist on giving their victims a decent burial. Archaeologists are going to scratch their futuristic heads when they come to dig up my back yard in a few thousand years).
And it ticks all the death-metal boxes, it punches you in the face with brutally fast music (which only occasionally slows down to a death march), spooks you with sinister lyrics and garrottes you with a few guitar solo wails before leaving you to deal with the aftermath in less time than the Ramones’ debut album. Honestly, you could probably play the entire record at full volume at 2am and it would all be over before the police turned up. And when they do, you can show them the album cover, intricately drawn in pen by Nick Blinko of UK anarcho-punk veterans Rudimentary Peni, and tell them it wasn’t you, because look, it doesn’t even look like a death metal album.
The only very minor quibble I have is that Lerno – possibly through the sheer enthusiasm of taking a turn as the lead vocalist in a death-metal band – over-uses the phlegm-clearing “Eugh” accent, the death metal version of a James Brown “Urgh” or an Elvis “Uh huh” on the one beat. By the end of the album, you are willing him to discharge the glob of snot at the back of his tongue.
But that aside, this is a fun record (well, as fun as a record can be with songs titled ‘Slaughter Garden’ and ‘Apparatus’). Well worth your time and hard-earned money.
