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Rating: It is not easy at all to talk about a chameleonic band like Enslaved, champions of the most brutal "viking metal" and at the same time capable of opening to "death-oriented" and psychedelic elements as seen in this CD.
"Monumension" is characterized as a multifaceted work capable of surprising the listener with each track, with references inspired by certain works of Pink Floyd(!), and without ever denying or forgetting their original sound. They show a tendency to surprise, even at the risk of scandalizing the most "traditionalist". It starts with a pale, dark and aggressive viking-metal to reach a very essential and beautifully produced death. Be clear, don't think of epic rides alternated obviously with double bass drum outbursts: we are faced with an album too versatile to be classified in any way. Enslaved dared, they knew how to present the genre’s styles in a perhaps not very original way, but naturally.
In the track "Vision: Sphere of The Elements - A Monument Part II", for example, ambient moments alternate with sound combinations dominated by Bekkevold's drum beats and Isdal's violent riffing: result, spine-tingling. A monumental piece that immediately imprints itself in our minds from the first listening. Reminiscences of the past are found in the splendid "Hollow Inside" characterized by an obsessive riff (a bit monotone) and the usual dark singing of Kjellson. Enslaved sympathizes with new “heavy” trends, including some works by Dimmu Borgir, and in tracks like the aforementioned it is more than evident. I find this stylistic change appreciable, even though I find it absurd that they themselves gave birth to albums like the chilly "Eld", very different from what is proposed here. It is precisely this departure from traditional black metal that met with skepticism from critics and fans, who couldn’t believe that the fierce Vikings had turned into a sophisticated and ultra-intellectual group – something far from despicable. And, even more crazily, Enslaved were attacked for having been denatured, for the ideas of the album only apparently innovative, for a banal riffing, even for the excellent production(!). All fairly unfounded criticisms, in my opinion.
These are the kinds of things that I struggle to understand in the mentality of the average metalhead: the total lack of flexibility, the refusal of evolution, only to equally criticize those who make 15 monolithic albums in 14 years. Not to mention, just to emphasize, those who bluntly criticize albums like this without even listening to them, as happened to those who trashed Immortal and the last review I proposed some time ago. Returning to Monumension, I find it to be a great album, one of those to rediscover.
Note of demerit, a somewhat banal compositional phase, too little refined, too "already heard". Personally, they often reminded me of some passages from Dark Tranquillity’s "Projector": at least the darkness of the sound is very similar to theirs. And the evaluation becomes fully positive once the psychedelic references are grasped, never heavy and never casual: they make us reflect that, all in all, it was not really the case (given the potential shown here) to remain anchored to the past (certainly glorious), and become the miserable photocopy of themselves.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Convoys to Nothingness (07:58)
Faces - eyes - noise
Floating patterns of no coherency, none needed
From behind the chapel of dreams came imagery
From another world
The left for a brighter star
A new home called "now"
Womb - death - dawn
Follow seafarers on an ocean of silence
Remaining humanoid shells, a distant thought
The chasm between truth and flesh paved
With bricks from secret cities
Entering linear orbit
Crushing the foundations of divided times
Suns reflected
Convoys...
Convoys to...
Convoys to nothingness...
04 Hollow Inside (05:38)
Hollow inside - I didn't sleep too well last night
Step over, turn the light
Hollow inside - I didn't dream too much last night
Step over, turn the light
Knock on the door - these are the interfering themes
Open it up, too soon
Shorter in time - the interactive parts go by
I fear for a while - my head
I fear for a while - that my head will expand
And stretch out in to the stratos wild
Can't you see, those birds in limbo breaks
And of course you hear, listen, the straws
From above you, and underneath in the glow
I can touch them
Spiritualized
Dogs with bones, they are released
One too many to get on
05 The Cromlech Gate (06:55)
[The fool:]
"Fear not dear kinsmen, cause you
Saviour I am. I'll bring back our glory
And wisdom Achieve I'm searching the
Old path to bring back the elder"
Smug as only the fool can be, mindless
Blindly. He marches towards his fate
Summoned by the Cromlech by hunger within
[Voice from a parallel existance:]
"Come inside my friend, your father is waiting.
Your search ends here, Wisdom you have
gained, the signs you have read."
Doomed to walk the smiths dungeons
Underworld slavery
Through the eyes of the fool nothing can be seen
The elder is hiding beyond thoughts
Only leaving with glimpses of long lost knowledge
I once saw the Cromlech and was kindly invited
But I stayed the beast I kissed the ground
(I drank the wine)
(I took up the runes)
I found the home of the elder
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