Descending from the sunny plains of Portugal, groove metal outfit MONOLYTH present to you their debut effort "Origin", a brutal funky work that's bound to have your body contorting into all manner of shape and position.

The band adopts a very gloomy and depressive outlook, with lyrics such as 'Lonely man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone' it's clear that the writer is venting some amount of emotional torment; which comes across as the diary of a middle-aged man. This melancholy subtext is paired with bouncy groove riffs that are really very catchy, guitarists Tiago Martins and Goncalo Lemos have to be given props here, as they seem able to throw out hook after hook constantly demanding interest. Next I have to comment on the vocals, they're grim...very grim. Marcelo is able to roar in an incredibly aggressive manner and when this is dowsed in effects by a production team his voice quickly becomes demonic; brutally heavy. Whether this is good or bad however is a matter of opinion as the novelty quickly wore off.

Opening track "Catharsis" kick starts the record with a fast bouncy riff made to satisfy any long standing metal head before Marcelo unleashes upon the mix, lashing out with a beastly scream and stamping his signature on the bands entertaining and involving sound. This first track however presents a great flaw as it makes it astoundingly clear that the drums are either mapped or have been recorded with a potato. They don't seem to do anything for the song and I found myself really struggling to hear the cymbals, which should definitely never happen.

On the contrary track 05 "The Catalyst" really surprised me and actually had me standing out of my seat within the first minute. A clean chilled guitar riff intertwines with the drums bashing out a funky rhythm and everything remains calm, then out of nowhere the distortion pedal is stamped on and a tasty riff is kicked, blaring through the speakers. It really got me involved and presented the group in a completely different light to what I had earlier assumed, this song is definitely the stand out track on the album.

This band combines both the astoundingly heavy and infectiously groovy concepts of music very well. The album is an enjoyable listen and these guys are obviously talented musicians. However, there are very noticeable flaws throughout and I feel that they lacked in that they rarely impressed me ("The Catalyst" proving an exception) Good overall, just missing something I feel, but considering this is only their debut it's a great effort and definitely makes them a one to watch.<