ALBUM REVIEW: No Comfort – Monolord

For a band who trade in slow, ponderous riffs, MONOLORD‘s ascent into the lofty halls of doom esteem has been anything but. Since forming in 2013, the Gothenburg trio have set a relentless pace of touring and festival appearances, and have found time to churn out four full length albums while they were at it.

Speaking of four full lengths, No Comfort is the latest in the MONOLORD discography. And if listeners came looking for massive, bowel loosening tone, ambling riffs and ethereal, wailing vocals, well, they won’t be disappointed. Because the core tenants of the band’s manifesto haven’t budged an inch.

First things first though; the understated yet evocative album art has to be contender for some of the best of 2019 – the combination of stately, predatory owl and NASA rocket burning skyward amid billowing smoke encapsulating the sound of the album with one beautifully efficient image. Opener The Bastard Son takes up immediately with a fat, grinding riff that’s instantly recognisable as ‘classic MONOLORD’. Tentative drums pulse, slowly picking up the bass over a wandering bass riff. It’s meditative, swaying in a SLEEP-lite way, Thomas Jäger’s vocals distant, wavering and ghostly. It plods, gently and unhurried, before taking a left turn into twangy, phasing guitar, then opening up to burn outwards.

The Last Leaf growls with a straight riff, clattering snares keeping things uptempo before dropping out into feedback and a big bass lick that reprises the main theme. Spiralling soloing throws in shades of 70’s psych, sounding triumphant, more like the ending of an album than its beginnings. Larvae is bright and gentle, shifting with sombre guitars that slowly rise, layering into dual NWOBHM riffs. Hefty bass grinds flatulently, chords glowering as they start to descend. A rare smattering of double kicks barrels things along before taking a turn into grim, strident chugging.

Skywards bounces with boundless energy, tumbling along with an infectious groove before dropping into looping bass and swift, squealing solos. Alone Together drips with lush acoustics and Western-soaked guitars, all burbling bass, dreamy wandering and bluesy textures. Closing with the title track, a single, reverb drenched guitar, plodding into a stately riff overlaid with mournful vocals. Bloated chords drop in hard before being replaced by vulnerable single guitar notes, ringing out only to be crushed under more massive, thick chords, hanging on heavy repetition as soloing edges skywards, collapsing into ringing feedback.

MONOLORD‘s strength lies in knowing what they’re best at; a mastery of the thickest tone, a predilection for plodding pace, and injecting just enough experimentation to keep things from going stale. While tried and true doom fans won’t encounter anything they haven’t heard before, they’ll appreciate the Swedes’ commitment to keeping a nearly half decade old genre sounding fresh and fierce. Horns up, beers up, brains off, smiles on.

Rating: 7/10

No Comfort is set for release on September 20th via Relapse Records.

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