From what I can tell, the band's name Monomakh refers to Vladimir II Monomakh who was the grand prince of the Kievan Rus' during a turbulent time in its history. So turbulent was this time that the kingdom fell apart just ten years after his death. The music this band plays perfectly reflects the dread and anxiety the Rus must have felt during that time.
Monomakh takes black metal, sludge, and a great deal of Incantation-worship, throws it into a giant pot, and brews up a thick concoction of heavy darkness. Most of the time the drums play somewhere between a medium to fast pace, with calamitous cymbal crashes and exquisite fills, but there are other times where they really draw back the tempo to play these crushing slow rhythms, again with a plethora of amazing cymbal work.
The vocals consist of a deep growl and a sick rasp. Both are well-performed and reinforce the dark and miserable atmosphere of the album. The guitars are tuned extremely low and show a great deal of Incantation influence. They run the gamut from typical death metal rhythms to chugging sections to tremolo sections. Not only are the guitars played extremely well, but due to the nature of the production, they have a great deal of meat that further reinforces the monstrous atmosphere.
As I did some more research, I learned that Monomakh is led by one man: Cale Schmidt. He is the mastermind behind two other Australian death metal beasts known as Altars and Cyclonus. I also learned that for the drums on this album, people from across the internet recorded their own drum sections and sent it to him. He then took these drum sections and arranged them into coherent passages. As a man who loves the power the internet can give people, I find this truly amazing. I hope Cale Schmidt makes more dark music under the Monomakh monicker.
You can download this album for free at their official bandcamp page.
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