Monarch, "Swan Song"

The single song featured on this limited edition CD-R gives a nice taster of what is to come on the band's upcoming LP. Monarch are tight and the production here captures the immense power of their music. This is a great slab of no frills and no bullshit doom, something that is always welcome.

 

Self Released

Bone-crushingly heavy doom is not something I think of when it comes to French music but Monarch pulls it off beautifully. Musically they sit on the same shelf as Khanate, Sunn O))), Ocean and Moss; so there is nothing spectacularly new about their riffing. However, their delivery is spot on. All the instruments sound just right, the mix is great and at appropriate volumes "Swan Song" is deeply hypnotic. The riffs are the right side of monolithic, each chord pummels its way out of the speaker. The vocals are particularly killer, Emilie screams her lungs up without sounding like a parody. It is hard to find a woman who can do great doom vocals but Emilie is the icing on the cake; I am itching to hear the rest of this album.