Monstergod - Resurrected

Monstergod started around 2004 and are the polish duo Smola (synths/guitars/production) and vocalist Schitter, based out of Warsaw. The band, influenced by writers such as James Joyce, William Blake and Charles Baudelaire also counts the bands Sisters Of Mercy, Laibach, Ministry and Suicide Commando as their musical influences.

While listening to the album I heard quite a few more influences than that. Bits and pieces of the album reminded me of A Split Second, Die Krupps, Absolute Body Control and other early EBM/Industrial bands. And I say that with respect, as Monstergod's sound is modern and crisp with a connection to the past.

'Resurrected' is Monstergod's latest full length album and also comes with the 'Jerusalem' MCD as bonus tracks. With 'Jerusalem' having been remixed by Controlled Collapse and Egoist, this brings the album in at 16 tracks and just less than 1 hour and 15 minutes. The album flows well and there are some great club tracks for the DJ with tracks running from 125 to 145 BPM with a 104 in there.

The opening track "Insomnia" gives you a teaser of what the rest the album will have within. "I Felt Funeral", "Evil Monk" (with Gregorian chant) and "Bright Cap And Streamers" are almost minimal and flow very well.

"The Enemy" (my favourite track) and "Jerusalem" wind you up and then you are calmed by "Eagleman". "Mist" and "Sleep Now" rise til "Beauty" brings you into the darker electro side of Monstergod, "Colours2" is a beat/bass filled, sequencer infected, guitar stab instrumental.

The last song of the album proper is "Poezja". Sung in Polish with lovely beats and bassline , it sounds musically, the closest to the Goth side of Monstergod, yet with synth work throughout the track that makes it 2012 not 1982. Following that, you then get the remixes of "Jerusalem" and a track called "She Walks In Beauty" which to me, has that goth/Die Krupps/sequencer thing going again in all the best ways.

Monstergod tag themselves as Dark Electro/Industrial poetry and music. I think if you add the tag EBM with a very little hint of Goth, you will pretty much get the idea of the 'Resurrected' album. While that's a lot of genres to throw into 12 tracks, Monstergod do it well without making a mess of it.

This is the first time I have heard Monstergod and 'Resurrected' has made me want to go into the back catalogue and discover their earlier work. Jul 26 2013