ALBUM REVIEW: Hellhound – Monument
From Renegades to their most recent release, Hellhound, MONUMENT have been triumphant in bringing forth a classical sound, borne during the NWOBHM era of metal. With a strong resurgence of this genre as of late, MONUMENT have taken the mantle of this relighting of the flame. Featuring nine tracks of electrifying guitar melodies, thundering drums and of course, that unmistakable British heavy metal screams, as made famous by the likes of Rob Halford and Bruce Dickinson. Lyrically, Hellhound draws upon a variety of subjects, such as the occult, urban London life, and personal relationships.
Smashing down the gate with crushing drums, William Kidd starts the album off very strong, paving the way and setting the tone for the rest of the record. Harmonising guitar work and powerful vocals label this song and indeed the rest of the album to be the most mature album MONUMENT have put out to date. The evolution throughout the song is solid too, nothing overwhelming mind, but a tasty guitar solo was thrown in for good measure. The Chalice starts off somewhat generic and continues this way for a good half of the song, until the beat and rhythm changes for a slower, heavier pace. Suddenly this blistering, face-melting guitar solo comes tearing onto the scene, raising the track a little higher, while the listener attempts to collect the gooey remains off the floor. Despite this high, the final moments of the track failed to continue this momentum it had suddenly gained.
Luckily, the next track Death Avenue is quite a jam, lots of head-bang worth riffs, a strong chorus and slamming drum and bass work by Giovanni Durst, and Daniel Bate, respectively. It’s a bit mental how high energy and crazy the guitar playing is by Dan Baune and Lewis Stephens, it really is one of the highest points of any MONUMENT song. As soon as the screeching, banshee-like notes come in, you’re in for a treat. One of the strongest tracks on Hellhound, is this next absolute belter, Nightrider. You could easily confuse this with a JUDAS PRIEST track, the raw power turns this track from just another track into one that will get the crowd ready at the start of the show. Featuring such intense energy and extreme vocal performance from Peter Ellis, Nightrider is the shortest track by some amount, but it packs a wallop, much like a cherry bomb or a pocket rocket.
Now for the title track in all it’s glory, Hellhound. Definitely a strong track through and through, a truly anthemic and catchy tune. Not only is it musically awesome, the lyrical content as well invokes some wonderful imagery of being hunted down in the streets by a crazed demon dog. Each change of pace tells a different part of a story, every guitar lick edging the listener closer to their impending doom, heart beating out of their chest as streets echo with cries of the damned. Wheels of Steel certainly takes notes from its predecessors, sharing a name and many lyrical and melodic elements with past NWOBHM bands, such as SAXON to name just one. While it is obviously influenced by them, it still has the MONUMENT sound, and has been refined and matured since their previous work. The End takes a slightly different turn, slowing down a little bit in terms of tempo and vocal delivery for the most part. This doesn’t last for long, because after an intense and overwhelming guitar solo, MONUMENT kick it up a notch for a brief period before returning to a much slower and calmer beat, ending the song on a beautiful harmonization of acoustic sounding guitars.
Attila is yet another solid tune, following a similar formula that we’ve seen before, but adding a splash of something extra during the solo. Straight Through The Heart is possibly the strongest track on the album, but not for reason that you would expect. It doesn’t feature loads of insane riffs and drum work, groovy basslines or the such. What it does have however, is an extremely catchy melody and brilliant vocal flow, particularly during the chorus. It has melodic, ballad like aspects to it, but isn’t cheesy and bland like we see a lot of classic glam metal tracks. You’ll be trying to get it out of your head for days to come!
Overall, Hellhound is a strong album, perhaps the strongest that MONUMENT have released so far, featuring some of their heavier tracks, and a more mature writing style has added to the already great sound. Being able to see such progression in a band in so few years, as well as releasing great songs, one after another, is a welcome sight to all. While not perfect, any continuing fan of theirs, or those who have taken a liking to JUDAS PRIEST, IRON MAIDEN, or really any NWOBHM band will at the very least, enjoy a solid half of Hellhound, undoubtedly more.
Rating: 8/10
Hellhound is out now via Rock of Angels Records.
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