ALBUM REVIEW: Approaching Doom – Monsternaut
Approaching Doom, the latest release from MONSTERNAUT, plays out less like a collection of individual songs and more like a slow, inevitable descent. It’s an album built on patience and weight, rooted firmly in sludge and doom but shaped by a clear focus on atmosphere. Rather than chasing standout moments or immediate impact, it leans into repetition and density, allowing its ideas to settle and expand over time. The result is immersive, but also demanding, this is a record that asks you to meet it on its terms.
From the opening moments of Cold, that intent is unmistakable. The track moves at a crawl, its riffs stretching out into long, deliberate phrases that feel more about presence than progression. There’s a starkness to it, a sense of space that isn’t empty so much as oppressive. It sets the tone for everything that follows, establishing an atmosphere that the album rarely deviates from.
That atmosphere finds a stronger sense of purpose in Approaching Doom, the title track and one of the album’s most fully realised moments. Here, the band sharpen their approach without abandoning it, locking into a groove that feels more directed and cohesive. The pacing is still slow, but there’s a weight behind it that feels intentional rather than purely atmospheric. It doesn’t explode or shift dramatically, but it holds your attention in a way that much of the surrounding material only hints at.
Black Blizzard stands out for a different reason, pushing the album’s heaviness into something more physical. The guitars feel thicker, the low end more pronounced, and the overall sound more suffocating. It’s one of the few points where the weight feels almost overwhelming, as if the album is closing in rather than simply surrounding you. That added density gives it a presence that lingers, even within such a consistently heavy record.
Later on, New Order Of Bliss offers a subtle but important contrast. There’s a faint melodic thread running through it, cutting just enough light into the darkness to make it feel distinct. It’s not a dramatic shift, but within the context of the album’s uniform tone, it stands out immediately. It also hints at a broader range that MONSTERNAUT only occasionally tap into, suggesting there’s more beneath the surface than the album fully explores.
By the time Final Pain brings things to a close, the album hasn’t built toward a traditional climax. Instead, it maintains its slow, crushing pace, letting the weight it has accumulated simply settle. There’s no release, no catharsis, just a continuation of the same atmosphere until it fades out. It’s a fitting end for a record so committed to its own sense of inevitability.
What defines Approaching Doom is that commitment. The production is dense and cohesive, the performances restrained but purposeful, and the overall sound carefully controlled to maintain a consistent mood. At the same time, that consistency becomes its biggest limitation. With so little variation in pacing or structure, much of the album begins to blur together, making it harder for individual tracks to stand out beyond the few key moments.
Ultimately, Approaching Doom succeeds as an immersive experience rather than a dynamic one. It’s heavy in a way that lingers rather than strikes, building a sustained atmosphere that doesn’t let up. Standout tracks like Approaching Doom, Black Blizzard, and New Order Of Bliss show just how effective that approach can be, even if the album as a whole sometimes struggles to maintain distinction. It may not be an easy listen, but for those willing to sit with it, it offers a dense, slow-burning weight that stays long after the final note fades.
Rating: 6/10
Approaching Doom is out now via Heavy Psych Sounds.
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