IMONOLITH was formed in February 2018 by Drummer, Ryan 'RVP' Van Poederooyen (DEVIN TOWSEND) and Guitarist, Brian Waddell (Devin Townsend Project/ Band). The pair originally started writing IMONOLITH's brand of music in 2015, while respectively playing in the DEVIN TOWNSEND (2009-2018). 'RVP' and Waddell pursued Vocalist - Jon Howard (THREAT SIGNAL, ARKAEA) and 2nd Guitarist - Kai Huppunen (METHODS OF MAYHEM, NOISE THERAPY) and lastly Bassist - Scott Whalen (Econoline Crush) to complete IMONOLITH as a band. "State of Being" contains eleven tracks.

"State of Being" opens the album; a quick mood-setting piece. Spoken words speak of corruption and greed while the guitars build in an eerie background to "Becoming the Enemy." It's a mid-tempo song, with a crushing low end. The vocals are varied, and I get a Grunge feeling at times here, or at least and Alternative Metal feeling. "Instinct" opens with acapella singing that quickly takes a nefarious turn with a fierce scream. There is something about the cadence here that is off-putting...almost rap like. Metalcore? Post-Hardcore? Modern Metal? Alternative Metal? I am unsure.

"Dig" has a slower and groovier pace and is a track where the bass guitars can be heard as well. But that cadence is just odd. The vocalist puts his all into the song, but the instruments are not keeping pace. They are just...not motivated. "Forgone" is another slower moving song with snare drum strikes and a low-end sound. They bend the guitar notes at the lower end but there isn't much to champion here. The chorus doesn't reach out and grab me. "Breathe" hits the mark, for the most part. They let some melody flow here, with clean vocals and guitars in the verses. This time, the chorus is big and rich, and his snarly voice fits in a bit better here. "The Reign" goes for broke out of the gate, with a big scream and plenty of instrumentation. They have the heavy part of the genre down, but really struggle with melodies.

"Hollow" feels a little more complete, with some better structure and clearer boundaries from verses to chorus. Still, they lay on open notes too much and it doesn't vary much. I like the dual vocal approach but at times I am getting a PUDDLE OF MUDD vibe here. "Persevere" closes the album. It's a slow, grinding song with again earnest vocals but lackluster instrumentation. Overall, I just think they weren't quite ready to release an album just yet, because despite having a great and diverse vocalist, the music was just not quite there. It's a cross between Grunge and Metalcore, the later I like. But the album just failed to move me, plain and simple.