Album Review : Monotonix – Where Were You When It Happened?
- Written by Luke Rodgers
Hailing all the way from Tel Aviv, Israel, come Monotonix, who have already garnered a name for themselves through their chaotic live performances. Where Were You When It Happened? gives them a chance to transfer the anarchy and mayhem into your living room.
Heavily distorted, the album starts off as expected. ‘Flesh and Blood’ and ‘I Can’t Take It Anymore’ are full of dirty slow riffs but fail to excite. Played live it could probably incite a riot but on an album it feels like The Melvins treading water. More monotonous than Monotonix!
‘My Needs’ changes all this. With thunderous riffing and a snarling vocal, the band starts to command your attention. It’s not quite the chaos you expected but it’s a sign that things are moving in the right direction. It all slows down a bit, and loses its way for ‘Something has Dried’. A hypnotic riff pushes the song along without really going anywhere. It begins to lose focus in the latter stages as the pandemonium begins to boil over. With the album making somewhat of a false start what is to follow is quite unexpected.
‘Set Me Free’ is effortlessly cool. The vocals are laid back and alluring in the main but lead in to some AC/DC screaming with the chorus. The guitars, containing the trademark fuzz, are refreshing and devastating in equal measure. From here on out the band rock, they rock hard!
‘Spit It On Your Face’ does exactly what is says. A short and furious stomp that surely demands a mosh of monumental proportions to go along side. Sitting between the albums two best songs, it’s exactly what is needed.
The epic ‘As Noise’ is a slow burner. It builds from a dark pounding riff into the anarchy of the live shows. More impressively it manages to capture the live show perfectly and transports you into a fuzzy dark room at the epicentre of storm, surrounded by a whirlwind of sonic fuelled frenzy.
The album ends in a dark place with the suicide note that is ‘Hunt You Down’, with what sounds like a distorted violin and a haunting church organ for accompaniment. The harrowing pain in the vocals is matched by a disturbing lyric which are both equal to dirge that runs beneath. It shows another dimension to Monotonix and one which the development of would surely produce some interesting results.
It’s not the finished article by any means, more a sign of what’s to come, but one day Monotonix will be recognised as much for their song writing as their live shows.