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Band: Monocube
Album title: The Rituals
Release date: 30 December 2016
Label: Malignant Records
Tracklist:
01. Visiones III
02. Drowned Sun
03. Downwards (feat. Apocryphos)
04. Totem Incantation
05. Fires Shifting - Nocturnal Motion
06. Through Our Blood
07. Father Fenris
08. Anthracite Glow (feat. Treha Sektori)
09. Initiation (feat. Asmorod)
Monocube is a Ukranian ritual dark ambient act that I was never aware of until this recent album aptly titled: The Rituals released on Malignant records popped up in my radar, and from the first note of the first song "Visiones III" I knew I was in for a treat of pitch black ecstasy.
It is clear that the man behind this project has tapped into some dark energy beyond our earthly being and what I see as the music of being dragged through hell.
Hazy noise and pummelling orchestral drones hit you with a sense of dread and has you anxious as to what comes next, and the longer you listen to this album the more sinister it gets. Slowly it pulls you through the first few tracks of a somewhat calming nature and and a track called "Downwards" which features Robert from Apocryphos readying you for the unnvering journey ahead.
Truly terrifying screams pierce your ears as the track "Totem Incantation" makes sure your listening experience is full of horrific surprises making you paranoid and anxious as to what comes next. A ritualistic drum pattern comes into play as if it were a rite happening in your own personal hell ready to have you sacrificed.
The 5th and longest track "Fires Shifting - Nocturnal Motion" tears you a new third eye as it introduces a trancelike drone that wafts around your head. Noisy ambience hidden behind the gritty drone twists your mind and plays with your sense of reality. You feel as if this gnawing sense of solipsism will never cease, leaving you dissociated and unable to retain your human consciousness.
Just as you think things have settled down a bit, you are awoken by a heavy banging onto the next track "Through Our Blood". This sounds as if somebody or something is trying to escape this evil, wretched place. An acoustic guitar comes in when you least expect it as if trying to assist you in escaping your inner fears and bringing some light.
Demonic sounds come in again in "Father Fenris" and this time it's as if something is breathing down your neck, as the album becomes it's own being. The demonic sounds begin to sound a little more human trying to tell you something but is impossible to decipher.
This album is a big step up from the first Blue Dusk/Red Dawn which was more of a calming droning experience. This latest effort, The Rituals, is living, breathing entity and does not let you go. It tears at your very being and sense of sanity making you unable to resist but think of your most unsettling fears and questioning reality.
Review written by: Tom Necklen
Rating: 9/10
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