ALBUM REVIEW: The Demon Who Makes Trophies Of Men – The Monolith Deathcult

THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT may just be not only one of the most bizarrely overlooked death metal acts to form since the turn of the century, but also one of the genre’s most pioneering. Ever since the band began to shift away from their brutal death metal roots in favour of a sound that blended together their prior extremity with symphonic and electronic elements, their bombastic and strident sound has helped them produce stunning albums that genuinely don’t sound like any other band within extreme metal, with some being modern classics in the genre. The band’s latest, ninth album, The Demon Who Makes Trophies Of Men, is not only one of their most impressive in recent memory, but also includes some excellent throwbacks to their third album, the criminally underrated Triumvirate, bridging together the past and present to make an incredibly cohesive and ferocious album that holds up to the high calibre of music that has preceded it.

The Demon Who Makes Trophies Of Men starts things off with an incredibly lean slab of death metal with spartan but effective industrial touches complimenting the incredibly rhythmic approach of the guitars. The robust, polished hooks are counterpointed by the tar-thick gutturals, which carve through the mix and add a dense quality that makes it sound even more imposing, adding a fierce edge to an exceptionally bombastic opener. Commanders Encircled With Foes, with its sludgy basslines and percussive drums, continues in a similar vein, but sees the epic orchestration from the keyboards take on a central role in the music, with the guitars seemingly vanishing into the background at points and allowing the stronger electronic flourishes to carry the music, with only a few weightier riffs and the monstrous vocals anchoring this in death metal, accentuating the band’s catchier elements massively and making for a punchy offering that is unflinchingly powerful and ambitious.

Kindertodeslied MMXXIV, the first of three new versions of tracks that first featured on the band’s magnificent 2008 masterpiece Triumvirate, captures the excellence of the original, from the heady techno-inspired opening motif and the unrelenting energy, but pushes the biting death metal flourishes almost entirely out of the music, reimagining it as a mostly electronic effort. It makes for a great meditation and experimental reappraisal of one of the band’s most underrated tracks, creating a new twist on a fan favourite from the band’s back catalogue. The Nightmare Corpse-City Of R’lyeh – a relatively short and aggressive number – blends together the band’s grandiose aspects with a chunkier, groove-laden guitar sound, not quite extreme metal but drawing heavily from it for influence, making for an incredibly imaginative and eclectic instrumental track that is harsh yet extremely immersive.

Gogmagog – The Bryansk Forest Revisited is another track that borrows heavily from the music of Triumvirate, notably Master Of The Bryansk Forest, and it veers in the complete opposite direction of Kindertodeslied MMXXIV, leaning prominently into an aggressive, belligerent death metal sound with abrasive guitar work that shifts from monolithic sections to soaring melodicism with ease, providing one of the heaviest outings on the whole album in the process. Matadorrrrr – another brief burst of brutality – carries forward the meaty grooves and thunderous rhythms of the last track, crafting a cavernous slab of extremity that is far harsher than earlier efforts, with only the ambient synths detracting from the growling vocals, forceful musicianship and demented flourishes that make this such a savage and punishing song.

Three-Headed Death Machine ups the ante in the ferocity stakes, resulting in arguably this album’s most chaotic and feral offering, with bubbling bass, distorted vocals and angular guitars taking the formula of the preceding song and peppering in some industrial keys and boasting some incredibly visceral performances to show just how fantastic this band can be when they blend the heavier and electronic sides of their sound together. I Spew Thee Out Of My Mouth MMXXIII – the third and final reimagining of one of the band’s classic tracks – manages to embrace all the things that made the 2008 version so stunning, but arguably surpasses it, creating a murkier, darker marriage of styles that perfectly ties together death metal and electronic music, serving as an amazing amalgamation of the range of styles and tones that have featured on this record, and bringing proceedings to a close perfectly.

Considering that three of this album’s eight songs either reimagine or draw heavily from the music of Triumvirate, this record could have very easily have meandered into the realms of nostalgia, but the obvious alterations to these tracks and their core sound suggests a more intriguing prospect; perhaps, at this point in their existence, THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT are approaching their music in much the same way that a classic band like KRAFTWERK do now, curating and repurposing their most celebrated work and altering it for an modern audience? Everything on this record sounds huge, imposing and majestic, with many of these new tracks being amongst the best work the band has done in not only years, but arguably their career. It seems a tad dismissive to describe this album as a return to form, because the band’s most recent triptych of albums are certainly impressive in their own right, but what is present on this record is on a completely different level to almost everything THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT have produced.

Rating: 9/10

The Demon Who Makes Trophies Of Men is out now via Human Detonator Records.

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