Monasteries: A Final Note 2 You
They say good things come to those who wait. And for the English technical deathcore band MONASTERIES this couldn’t be truer. Since their formation the band have proven time and again that they are prepared to work harder than most modern acts to get themselves seen by the largest demographic possible. Following a number of well received singles and one critically acclaimed EP The Silence the band were snapped up by Seek & Strike Records in 2022 and set to work on their highly anticipated full-length album Ominous.
With this being the band’s first full-length release, it goes without saying that things would have had to have been approached in an entirely different way, a fact that was aided by the recent signing. “The timing for joining Seek & Strike couldn’t have been any better,” explains guitarist/songwriter Aaron Wright. “It was the height of the pandemic, and this gave us a real focus and drove us forward creatively. Over the years we had gathered so many ideas and different sections, this gave us the tunnel vision to choose the best pieces and refine them to create something we were truly proud of.”
And that is exactly what happened. Ominous is the sound of a well-travelled band coming of age. Finding their sound and really hitting the focal points of what makes them so original and exciting.
It’s safe to say that the band have found their footing in the metal world and a large part of that is the completion of their line up following the addition of James Snow on bass and Craig Robertson on guitars, both acquired over the past couple of years. “Bringing Craig in really made the rest of us up our games as musicians” tells Wright. “Josh and I would write the bare bones of the songs and bring them to the others to fine tune before we headed to the studio.” The band would then descend upon Jigsaw Audio in Derby to record the album with the ever-talented Myroslav Borys, with mixing and mastering duties being handled by the talented Ivan Panferov from Anthropocide Studio.
The band would lay down eleven new songs and according to Wright, the task of syphoning down the number of songs was no easy task. “We had so many ideas from years of writing previously, a lot of them were ideas that we revisited and reshaped from previous writing sessions. When we signed the deal with Seek & Strike we agreed to provide a certain number of releases and fortunately we have plenty of stock of good musical ideas to draw from.”
Perhaps one of the most impressive aspects of the album is the inclusion of some of the scene’s heaviest hitters with notable names such as Jason Evans of INGESTED, Sven de Caluwé of ABORTED and Monte Barnard of EMBERTHRONE amongst the ranks. The question is how did they managed to bag such an impressive roster for their debut? Well, the answer is a lot simpler than you would think… “Josh [Davies, vocals] works merch for other bands and has made plenty of connections along the way,” tells Wright. “When we wrote the songs, we had no intentions of having the guests, but once they were down, we thought we would put it out there to people within the scene we respect and we’re really happy with how they came out.”
The ambitious nature of Ominous cannot be understated. The intriguing blend of haunting atmospheric elements, jagged riffs and colossal breakdowns with the brooding, deep lyrical content is something that far surpasses the bands years. “The base concept of the album centres around the character Lilac and her life within an orphanage,” explains Wright. “However, Josh wanted to leave a degree of ambiguity to leave room for empathy from the listener. That way people can find their own way to connect.” To attempt such an ambitious subject matter on their debut release is something that needs to be appreciated properly. The maturity shown from such an approach is something that many bands aspire to much further into their careers and is a testament to the high levels of songwriting ability that the boys possess.
With the group clearly on the ascension and hitting a pretty impressive creative stride, it’s all the more disappointing that the band has been laid to rest since the release of Ominous. Thanks for the riffs boys, you’ll be missed.
Ominous is out now via Seek & Strike.
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