{"id":14407,"date":"2013-08-20T00:00:03","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T00:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=14407"},"modified":"2013-09-22T22:26:50","modified_gmt":"2013-09-22T22:26:50","slug":"album-review-monsterworks-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-monsterworks-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"MONSTERWORKS – Earth (2013) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

MONSTERWORKS
Earth<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nEat Lead & Die (2013)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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I didn\u2019t know what to expect when I saw the band name, and having seen the cover art I was worried that the music would leave me kind of cold. However, this is a really intriguing record to say the least, from a band who originate from New Zealand but have been based in the UK since 2003. In fact, it\u2019s nigh on impossible to put into words how this concept opus works. It\u2019s a real extravaganza which somehow blends classic rock with a stoner edge as well as an oddly progressive doom edge.<\/p>\n

For the most part though, the vocals of Jon are rooted in a Sebastian Bach-style of warrior scream. Once stirred however, this is quite a mighty potion that comments on the evolution of earth amid wailing guitars, Southern-edged harmony, and peculiar progression that will leave the listener engulfed. <\/p>\n

Album opener \u2018From Dust And Gravity\u2019 just about sums up the effortless originality of the band, because it\u2019s such an overgenerous track with its lazy backbeat, which is contradicted by those mesmerising guitars and schizophrenic vocal capabilities.<\/p>\n

Even so, these variances do not make for an inaccessible listen. Instead, there\u2019s somewhat sun-blessed warmth to the whole record which changes mood with the seasons. For instance, \u2018Late Heavy Bombardment\u2019 has more in common with icy doom, such are the titanic cold riffs and sludge-consumed vocals \u2013 imagine Corrosion Of Conformity experimenting with light black metal nuances and doomy thrash! <\/p>\n

And yet this ever-changing beast refuses to let us settle, with \u2018The Last Universal Ancestor\u2019 breaking through the clouds as a mere wistful acoustic ballad, before becoming engulfed in the black smoke of swirling doom. And just to enhance the levels of confusion, the 70s swirl of \u2018Oxygenation\u2019 lumbers from the hills like a black steel horse ridden by Sebastian Bach! <\/p>\n

Earth<\/em> is an unusual yet bombastic record that can only succeed due to its infectious layers, which \u2013 when peeled back \u2013 reveal so many hidden levels that it takes several listens just to come to terms with the shape-shifting vocals, let alone the kaleidoscopic guitars and tumbling drums.<\/p>\n

All eight tracks on offer (plus two bonus tracks on the CD digipak version) will bamboozle the listener, and maybe alienate some. After all, those who\u2019ve become melted by the more groove-based sounds on the record may find themselves irritated by the spiky vocals on \u2018Powered By Fate\u2019, which boasts a dirty doom edge as the sneers add extra bite.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the two-minute thrash workout \u2018Bookended By Extinction\u2019 won\u2019t make any friends in the modern metal fraternity, but it\u2019s such a leviathan of a tune that it can\u2019t be ignored in its bleak state. <\/p>\n

\u2018Aeon Of Man\u2019 is another unexpected entry, a summery, blissful tune with a Southern mellow twang which builds to a mid-90s metal cacophony. We reach the end of the path with the ten-minute title track, which begins another silky acoustic tinge that draws us into its citadel of majestic, fluent and catchy doom passages. All stability is lost once again, however, when a mournful piano takes over before we drift off into a grating doom-sludge frenzy of writhing, serpentine guitars.<\/p>\n

As Earth<\/em> comes to silence I can\u2019t quite comprehend what I\u2019ve just heard, and yet so enthralled have I been by this oddity. As a soundtrack to evolution Earth<\/em> may not fully succeed, but as a project created to draw you in Monsterworks really do live up to their name. This really is a monster of a record, but it may not appeal to everyone.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONSTERWORKSEarth Eat Lead & Die (2013)Rating: 8\/10 I didn\u2019t know what to expect when I saw the band name, and having seen the cover art I was worried that the music would leave me kind of cold. However, this is a really intriguing record to say the least, from a band who originate from New […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,756],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-monsterworks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14407"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14411,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14407\/revisions\/14411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}