I wrote that almost a week ago after taking a couple of spins through Monotheist. After that, my train of thought got derailed so I had to go back for more listens. To my surprise, I found myself enjoying the damn thing, and unable to resist the urge to rock out. Weird. The album is not without flaws, of course, and I’m sure this will disappoint just as many (if not more) old school fans than it will please, but could we really expect them to recapture a near 20-year old vibe?
“Progeny” and “Ground” get things rolling in fine fashion, trading off slow, doomy moments with faster sections with Tom Warrior’s deliciously evil vocals. Your patience will need to kick in after that, with three tracks that slow things down even further and the vocals take on a monotone, almost chanting vibe. When the female vocals kicked in on “Obscured”, they totally threw me for a loop. I’m not sure how I feel about Frost trying to bring something so beautiful into something so ugly – and the music IS ugly, but in a good way. If you make it through all that, though, “My Domain of Decay” and “Ain Elohim” bring things back up to speed before the perhaps overly ambitious Tryptych trilogy that ends this album, which sandwiches a 14-minute dirge in between two artsier pieces, making almost a mini-movie with introductory and closing scores around a story.
So it turns out it WAS worth further listening as this album has grown on me like a wicked fungus, as the burning desire to groove along with the boys would indicate. Proceed with caution, though, because there isn’t an “Into the Crypts of Rays” on here. You have to be a bit patient and a lot adventurous to make it through this epic, but I’d say it’s worth it in the end.
