I love the 80s. That's my time, my school, when I became a Metalhead, and started my long love relationship with this form of music we all call Metal. I'm that kind of guy that will do anything I can in the name of Metal, because it made me the man I am. But one thing I'll never accept is the passion for the past. In the 80s, in the bands interview, you can read that they were searching for a personal form of musical work. That was their aim, to triumph above all those other bands that would disappear in the future. Now you are able to understand why bands as MONUMENT to me have low value. Although their new album, called "Hair of the Dog", is good, the band's work needs a lot of improvements.

Once more, we have a work focused on the past, with these English guys looking for something on the past to build their music. But instead of using that way of the bands from NWOBHM as a reference, they are trying to sound as a band from those days. Sorry, because even being a good band, with very good melodies, fine choruses, and strong work on each musical instrument (and on vocals as well), they lack personality. Yes, it seems a lot bands from the beginning of the 80s, and with no actualization at all. The sound quality is really good, even not being perfect. In this feature, they try to keep away from the past, sounding clear and heavy in the due proportions, and this is good. Because if the sound quality was too raw or with that moldy sensation, then I would name the band as a clone, and that's not the case.

But they show talent in many moments, as on "Hair of the Dog" (very good chorus, and talented vocals), "Blood Red Sky" (a fine work of guitars, indeed), the melodic lines of "Imhotep (the High Priest)", the hooking work on tempos of "Crobar", the good musical arrangements on "Olympus" (but the influence of IRON MAIDEN is annoying sometimes), and "Lionheart". But they need to run away of the shadow of IRON MAIDEN and other influences they got. Their musical style has nothing wrong, it is good, and they are talented musicians. It's a matter of defying the gods they love, not to be praying to them, if you can understand this analogy. Hope they can really do a more personalized work in the future, because they have talent enough for that, to not waste time with what is already done.