UMUR "Tetragrammaton" is the 4th full-length studio album by Dutch death metal act The Monolith Deathcult. The album was released through Season of Mist in May 2013. It´s been 5 years since the release of their 3rd full-length studio album "III: Triumvirate (2008)", but The Monolith Deathcult did re-record parts of, remix, and remaster their 2nd full-length studio album "The White Crematorium (2005)" for a 2010 re-release with the title "The White Crematorium 2.0", so they´ve kept themselves busy in the intermediate years.

Stylistically the music on "Tetragrammaton" is technically well played and relatively brutal death metal. That´s the band´s core sound, but they add sci-fi lyrics, samples, keyboards, and industrial ("H.W.A. (Human Wave Attack)" sounds a bit like Ministry with death metal vocals) and groove metal rhythms (check out "Drugs, Thugs & Machetes") to that basis sound, which make their music quite a bit more eclectic than your regular brutal death metal album. These guys are definitely out to test conventions and stretch boundaries.

This is by no means an avant garde type death metal release though, and you´ll still mainly be exposed to brutal growling vocals (only partially intelligible), brutal riffing, and mid-paced- to blast beat rhythms. The keyboards and the samples create an alien sci-fi atmosphere, that you won´t hear on many death metal releases out there, and the industrial and groove metal elements are definitely not "regular" death metal elements either.

The 7 track, 53:49 minutes long album features tracks between 6 and 8 minutes long. While the relatively long track times provide a platform for track development and semi-progressive ideas, the tracks often feel unneccesarily long. There´s no denying that The Monolith Deathcult have many intriguing innovative ideas, but the songwriting could have been a bit more concise for stronger and more immediate impact on the listener.

The album features a professional, powerful, clear, and very detailed sound production, which suits the layered music well. Personally I think the drums sound a bit too digitally processed and the same goes for the vocals, but I´m sure that´s a matter of aquired taste. So all in all "Tetragrammaton" is a strong release by The Monolith Deathcult although I have a few minor issues and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

Time Signature God amongst insects...

Genre: industrial death metal

Originally a brutal death metal band, The Monolith Deathcult found that death metal had been taken as far as possible within its own confinement and decided to develop the genre by incorporating elements from beyond deat metal into their style. Their latest effort is "Tetragrammaton" which was released in the spring on Season of Mist.

This album is quite a musical journey, starting out with the epic and sympbonic track "God Amongst Insects" which includes brutal and fast paced aggression as well as atmospheric passages. The following track, 'H.W.A. (Human Wave Attack)', is in stark contrast to opener offering siple driving beats and chucking riffs plus plenty of electronica elements. A track like 'Todesnacht von Stammheim' has a Neue Deutsch Härte-feel to it. This is not only due to the German lyrics; the track generally sounds like a Satanic Rammtein on steroids. Unusual for a death metal act, The Monolith Deathcult are not entirely without humor, as reflected in the titles 'S.A.D.M. (Svpreme Avantgarde Death Metal)' and 'Aslimu!!! - All Slain Those Who Bring Down Our Highly Respected Symbols To The Lower Status Of The Barren Earth'.

The production is very crisp and clean without being too polished, which obviously suits the musc very well with its symphonic and electronic elements. There is nothing wrong with the musicianship at all, as it is precisely delivered, and the compositions are very well put together.

Fans of Fear Factory and Neue Deutsche Härte (who are not afraid of death metal) are likely to enjoy The Monolith Deathcult's "Tetragrammaton".