The Monolith Deathcult

The White Crematorium 2.0

Written by: EW on 02/05/2010 16:07:18

I know not the reason for the rerecording and rerelease of The Monolith Deathcult's "The White Crematorium" album of 2005 but here we have it anyway - 10 songs of brutal Dutch death metal from one of the country's B-list bands. TMDC's "Triumvirate" record of 2008 garnered them some strong press with a thoroughly modern and clinical exemplification of the genre, and while this release shows many elements of that one it is a more chaotic and evidently less organised affair. Opening with a sample of what sounds like German war time song and a very eerie synth backing the journey thereafter is one of a mid-level technical blasting recalling to me the likes of Arkhon Infaustus in their chaotic extremity and Myrkskog's industrial-tinged death metal assault; not ingredients that are ever destined to produce an 'easy listening' album. It is in first track "Army of the Despised" where, after the initial sampled intro, TMDC's style of whirling guitars and a strong bass presence is best effected as unlike so many others of their genre they know how to at least write songs containing variations in tempo and speed.

Despite this, and the tracks "The Haunted Ravines Of Babi Yar" and "The White Crematorium" where TMDC are heard to slow the proceedings to funereal doom territories against well-executed synth backings, the overall lack of variation within the more extreme moments which make up the bulk of "The White Crematorium" stop it from becoming a record that I'm getting really excited about. With most of the tracks all falling into the 'good' category but rarely pushing on, it is only the bonus track "Kindertodestanz", not included on the original album, that causes me some serious difficulties with it's existence. A trancy-EBM track with deep Germanic Rammstein-like vocals, it's an odd inclusion by the band perhaps included to display their influences but for this reviewer it ends the album on a sour note, losing some of the goodwill that their manic death metal of preceeding songs had earned.

6

Download: Army of the Despised, 1567 - Under The Blood Campaign
For the fans of: Arkhon Infaustus, Immolation, Myrkskog
Listen: Myspace

Release date 20.02.2010
Twilight Records

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