Saturday 22 December 2012

HULDRA - Monuments, Monoliths Review


Huldra are a Progressive Sludge/Post-Metal Band from Salt Lake City, USA.

The members are:

Matt Brotherton - Bass/Vocals
Levi Hanna - Guitars/Samples/Vocals
Eric Smith - Guitars
Scott Wasilewski - Synth/Keyboards
Chris Garrido - Drums

Huldra are a Progressive Sludge/Post-Metal Band who have been on this blog before with their stunning debut EP last year. They impressed me with their own take of Progressive Sludge/Post-Metal with elements of Ambient based Post-Rock.

If you’re a fan of Isis, Cult Of Luna and Neurosis then you’re going to dig this great band. Huldra are back with their eagerly awaited debut album – Monuments, Monoliths – A 11 song and 77 minute epic blast of sublime Post-Metal riffage.

Huldra take you on an emotional rollercoaster from start to finish. With this running for 77 mins you know you’re in for a great ride. This is one of the most epic albums I have listened to in 2012.

Huldra don’t hold back at all with this album. This is the band at their most raw and honest for the entire world to see. Haunting melodies and vocals combine with epic riffs that will take you to the edge and back.

The band have written some truly spellbinding songs that will surely leave you breathless at times. Some of the tracks run past the 10 to 11 minute mark. Huldra take their time building up the atmosphere on the lengthy tracks before unleashing the primal fury of the Sludge Riffs that Huldra are masters at.

Brilliant songs to check out are – The City In The Sky, Monuments, Thousand Of Eyes, As Above So Below and my fave track – Is This The End? This Is The End

There are some short tracks on the album but these are more like breathing spaces, a gift from the band for lasting the course. They might be a few minutes long in length and mainly ambient soundscapes but wait a few minutes and Huldra unleash the fury yet again to pulverize your body to. The vocals are sang in both clean based and hardcore/sludge growled style to give this album a true sense of light and dark atmospherics.

Huldra told me they consider this their best work to date after a string of well received releases. And who can argue with them on this form. I can’t. The guys have put their hearts and souls into this and it shows all the way through out. It’s brilliantly written, produced and performed by all involved. Monuments, Monoliths should hopefully take Huldra to another level as they can play superb Post-Metal riffs with the best of them.

Huldra might borrow some musical aspects from ISIS and Neurosis but which Sludge/Post-Metal band doesn’t in today’s Sludge/Post-Metal scene. It still doesn’t deter from the fact that Huldra have delivered a pulsating and brutal assault on the senses.

I agree with Huldra that they have delivered their best work to date and this is an unflinching brutal and brilliant album that I can’t recommend highly enough.

Brilliant and Highly Recommended.

Monuments, Monoliths is available to buy from Huldra’s BandCamp Page on both physical and digital releases from 12th Jan 2013.

Check This Superb Band Below:

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BandCamp - if you like what you hear you can download their previous releases on BandCamp Pay Now Deals. Both releases highly recommended.