Monuments have, in a short amount of time, instilled themselves in the halls of metal's greatest. In part, due to their incredible second album: The Amanuensis.
Although almost three years and a half years old now, this is still the bands most recent release. Lord knows we've been waiting for a third instalment for a while now. But with that said, you'll certainly find plenty to keep you satisfied until then.
The opening of Atlas still makes the hair stand up on my neck now and the total dominance of I, The Destroyer is to be hallowed. Any musician worth their salt could take a lot of lessons from this album. If I were to teach a class on metal writing 101, this would certainly be a strong part of the curriculum. I mean you can play the album on repeat and never hear the seem of its end.
The strength of this album is in the combination of John Browne and Chris Barretto. Of course this is the follow-up to Gnosis, was before the entrance of Barretto to the band. Both of these gentlemen are kings of their trade. In the sphere of Djent-death-core-metal or whatever people want to call it now, Browne is the master, his ability to continually write heavy, interesting, technical and not least ORIGINAL riffs is truly spectacular. There isn't a song on this album that sounds the same, they all have their own unique feel to them, with the music perfectly reflecting the vocals of Barretto.
Now for the man himself, the poet, the skald. Barretto has lyrically created a whole world of wonder in which the album takes place. It's fantasy fiction warped into musical perfection. This man has a beautiful voice, possibly the best voice in the metal world at present. His range, tone and vocal control are to be admired and enjoyed. Couple this with the raw power of his screams and you have an all out heavy weight. And he uses the two interchangeably, never knowing what is going to come next, with every turn bringing surprise and wonder.
Life and death are all part of the same great cycle.
But what for Monuments' sequel?: 9/10
Top picks: Atlas, Saga City, I, The Destroyer
The Amanuensis was released June 20th 2014 via Century Media:
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