Only minutes into Monolith’s opener, it becomes clear that In Mourning is the type of band I tend not to like, with a genre-bending, progressive style tries that seems like it’s trying to pull numerous metal subgenres into one. ‘For You To Know’ changes constantly, starting off with an soft melody and then abruptly shifting into a start-stop riff with screamed metalcore-like vocals. It moves through a clean guitar passage, some melodic riffing, a middle passage reminiscent of Porcupine Tree, and some clean singing over the chorus.

As the album progresses however, it becomes evident that unlike most bands out there playing this kind of metal, In Mourning actually know what they’re doing. The band manages to keep Monolith sounding cohesive and consistently good despite its ambition and complexity, making for a very enjoyable record.

In Mourning mostly stick to a core sound of melancholic melodeath / doomy riffing mixed with some start-stop, Meshuggah-like chugging riffs that give the album a harder edge and keep things from getting monotonous. The band also obviously has a great sense of melody - while many of the songs are constantly changing and switching between different riffs, nothing seems like filler or throwaway notes. In Mourning switch between different sounds and time signatures seamlessly, and the drummer does an admirable job of augmenting the riffs without getting in the way.

While the majority of the vocals are a deep death growl, the vocalist often mixes in other styles like clean singing or higher-pitched screaming. Aside from the metalcore-style vocals in the first track which I definitely did not care for, his vocals are a pretty good fit for this sort of music. Honestly though, the real highlight of the album is the guitar work and the riffing. Some of the later tracks on the album seemed to drag a little when compared with the first few, but overall I was very impressed with Monolith, and while this genre is one that I don’t listen to very often, this album is definitely an exception.

» Buy Monolith from Amazon.com

» Full album streaming at InMourning.net/monolith