With an unapologetic, high-energy attack, THE HOLE bring forth a tasty, total assault on your ears with their latest album, "A Monument to the End of the World". It's refreshing to see that there are still bands lying in the underground who produce a testament of crushing Metal such as is heard on the aforementioned title. The punishing quartet from the Canary Islands are prepared to grab you face-first and thrust you into a submissive fit of headbanging.

Self-described as having a sound of Death and Thrash Metal, THE HOLE live up to that and a lot more. As I was listening to this eleven-track set, I was pleased to encounter traditional elements of both Death and Thrash Metal, but I was surprised to hear certain riffs, such as in the songs "Pro Patria Mori" and "The Third Seal", that gave me the distinct impression of Melodic Black Metal. The combination created an exciting variety of aggressive styles in those songs and is present throughout the whole of the album.

You have pulsating percussive blastbeats, reliable riffs, scintillating solos, and a steady time signature that appealed to my analytic brain. The vocals, though definitely harsh, did not seem repetitive, nor a rip-off of the style of another band in the same category. Everything about this album said "raw, fresh power", leaving no crowd in the imagery of my mind without the urge to open up the fucking pit!

One of the things I found intriguing was the use of some classical acoustic parts written into a few of the songs, one of which being the intro to "Dark of my Soul". I have to wonder if they included these parts as a way to perhaps keep in touch with the Classical Guitar style so heavily rooted in their country. Despite the contrast to the brutal speed possessed by the remainder of the music on the album, they wrote in the best possible acoustic instrumentation to not break with that aggressive nature.

Though energetic, there is an obvious tone of haunting nature concurrent with the theme of this album as one could surmise from the title. This compilation, produced by the capable hands of Javi Felez, definitely serves as a fantastic "Monument to the End of the World".