Doors In The Labyrinth - In The Shadow Of The Monolith

What is odd about the history of Josh Loughrey's project Doors in the Labyrinth is that it got its start from the ashes of an old, ambient and industrial act. Quite incidentally, the first release from Doors in the Labyrinth "Rumor of Escape" was based on a three hour live session from that act. Nonetheless, Doors in the Labyrinth actually began in 2015, whereupon Loughrey covered 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' by Bauhaus. Following that, Doors in the Labyrinth released his debut EP "The Sound of Her Wings" in 2016 and went on to share the stage with the likes of HIDE, Bestial Mouths, Goblin, and more. His eleven minute single for Silber Records' Droneuary series was released in early 2020, when Doors in the Labyrinth then turned their attention to a drone, post-rock, goth, and darkwave fusion. This led to the recording of Doors in the Labyrinth's full-length debut "In The Shadow Of The Monolith". 



It is easy to see at the start of the album with 'Caldera' how Loughrey has combined his influences into one epic. The raw energy of post-rock drums combine with guitars that feature a noise-wall like essence, while light background synths provide a constant cosmic energy to the whole piece. Loughrey's voice echoes ever-so-slightly and is quite powerful amongst the raucous. There is also a wonderful build-up that begins at the two-minute mark that led me straight into a guitar driven mass of noisey constructs put together with an awesome guitar solo. If anything, 'Caldera' was the right song to begin the album off with due to its immense power.

Things quiet down for a bit with 'Dead Stars'. Revealing his ambient work, Loughrey allows scratchy glitch work to find prominence in the background, as emotional piano keys strike so softly alongside it. It is as if it is a song of fate. Even at its loudest, which is around the two-minute and forty-five second mark, there's no doubt that the guitars and synths make a melancholic peak. This is followed up by the tribal-drum inspired 'God's Love'. It sounds like an electronic-Western track and the lyrics deliver a story of hypocrisy within Churches around the world. The lyrics are sung, "God loves his children / As long as they behave / God loves his children / But the preacher loves his slaves". Powerful lyrics with equally powerful instrumental segments. 

'Something Wicked' is another track where Loughrey allows his ambient and drone background to takeover a bit more. While post-rock drums and guitar are found throughout most of the song, it is not those instruments that are awe-inspiring. It is rather the experimental modular sounds that had me quirking up and paying attention more than anything. As I came to expect from the album, a cacophony of sounds mix and mingle toward the middle-end of the track. 'Through The Woods' utilizes acoustic guitar to, well, tell a ye-olde-folktale like ballad. It kind of comes off as a story that someone's parents would tell them late at night to scare them to stay out of the woods. 

I thought that 'War Of Attrition', which came next, was an okay song. The production was just the same as the previous tracks in the album, but I found the structure and design to be less appealing than the previous tracks. Wailing guitars, soft portion control of sound, and another build-up to a multi-instrumental crescendo just seemed standard for the album by this point. The follow-up track, 'Stolen Child', left me disappointed as well. There was a bit of a raw tone to the production as far as the live instrumentation was concerned, but it was blistering. The guitars didn't really pop as they did previously and I found the echo or reverb on Loughrey's voice to be overdone. 

After the slow ballad of 'The Glass Key', I was led into 'Sapphire'. It serves as another song thematically showcasing the threats of organized religion which promises peace only to promote further violence down the road. The final track on the album was a tried-and-true effort from Loughrey, using a slow, ballad-like structure for most of the song. That is, again, until near the end when another multi-instrumental crescendo finished out the song as it had done on previous tracks. 

After passing through this album multiple times, I always found myself shocked at the beginning of the album but found myself guessing song structure as it came through my headphones or played on my car's speakers. Usually each of the songs on "In The Shadow Of The Monolith" follow a pattern of having post-rock mixed drone beats until a crescendo sees the track out. Then its onto the next one. This is a minor complaint, but one that I still calculated into the review nonetheless as it does effect my overall feeling about the album. However, with that out of the way, let's talk about everything that Doors In The Labyrinth did right. 

For starters, Doors In The Labyrinth is very well produced. The drums and guitars are able to punch holes through my speakers and the ambient and drone influences constantly kick in during the slower segments on the album. These little experimental noises are highlights for me as it lends insight into both the song's story and the overall mood of it. Loughrey is also a bard at work, using his charismatic tone to tell story after story. And, sure, I was not a fan of 'War Of Attrition' or 'Stolen Child', but there are still eight other songs on the album that I can sit down and enjoy. A bit more variation as far as song structure would have been nice, but I'm nonetheless happy with how "In The Shadow Of The Monolith" turned out. Seven out of ten. A solid album. 

This review was commissioned through our Ko-fi page.
Mar 22 2021