MONOLORD is a stoner doom metal band from Sweden who formed in 2013. "Your Time To Shine," is their fifth full length album. This is my first experience with their music so I went into this album blind—but the experience has been worthwhile as I think this album is solid as hell. As with most stoner doom, the comparisons to SABBATH and rock and roll from that era wouldn't be out of place. The fuzz, groove, slow pace...it is all here. As such, "Your Time To Shine" doesn't contain anything innovative or mind blowing but those aren't words that really apply to this style. But what they do is done well and often times represented in a catchy way. Musically, the album is simple but it does have many moments where the song hooks right into you.

"The Weary," brings it in early on. The opening riff might not be what most think about music being catchy but the repetitive structure digs into you. The melody infused with the groove is another little ear filler that goes a long way. Thomas V. Jäger's hazy vocal compliment the song well, especially during the clean instrumentation parts. "To Each Their Own," begins with a thick, rousing riff, backed up by the stalwart rhythm section of Mika on bass and Esben on drums. The song sticks to clean instrumentation for thr lyrical stanzas but goes heavy again afterwards. The mid portion of the song is particularly interesting with resonating bass and slow but huge riffs. The guitar harmonies near the edge are a nice touch, especially with the rhythm backing it up so well.

The next track, "I'll Be Damned," is my favorite on the track. The main riff is absolutely monstrous! The bass drums capture the atmosphere to the song while adding weight to it as well. The structure seems to get darker as the song plays out—the bass definitely goes a long way in adding to this feeling. The lead guitar fits alongside perfectly with the music in between the different sections of the song but the overall vibe of it all is unstoppable. From the six minute mark to the end, the band cuts loose and hammers over and over–encompassing and engaging. The last two tracks is where the album sees a drop in quality. These two songs are not bad–I want to stress that—but this is definitely a front loaded album.

The title track is over ten minutes long but it doesn't really need to be—shaving off a couple minutes would not have been a bad idea. With that being said, the song's atmosphere is wonderfully dismal and the tempo is just how I like my doom: crawling through the muck. The chorus will grab you for days and the more echo/ethereal production on the vocals adds a nice dimension to the proceedings. The last track, "The Siren Of Yersinia," balances fast and slow tempos but I think after the dragging on of the title track, fatigue sets in because this one seems a little too long as well. The later half of the song is the better half—who can ignore the power of cow bell?  The chorus on this song is okay—it does begin to grate on the ears after multiple listens.

With that being said, I do like the atmosphere of this song—mysterious and a little creepy. The ending guitar is slick too. In the end, "Your Time To Shine," is a solid slab of stoner doom that has made me a fan of the band. It may be front loaded but it does remain good throughout despite some kinks here and there.