Exclusive Track Premiere: Behold! The Monolith’s “Lord of Bones”

Behold! The Monolith‘s excellent sophomore album Defender, Redeemist (listen in full here) wowed me so much that it landed a respectable #8 spot on my 2012 year-end/top 15 list.  And I was thrilled and honored to be asked if my band would play with the blackenedstonerdoomthrashsludge Los Angeleans when they hit Brooklyn during Behold’s first full U.S. tour the following year.

But then the unthinkable happened.

On June 21st, 2013, bassist/vocalist Kevin McDade died in a tragic car crash on a California highway. The tour was cancelled, we turned our show into a benefit for the band/Kevin’s family & girlfriend, and nobody knew what would ever become of the mighty musical group.

CUT TO: two-plus years later, and Behold! The Monolith are back with an expanded new lineup (read about how that came together) and a ripping new album coming out on September 29th that you are going to LOVE.

Similarly to Defender, Redeemist, new album Architects of the Void manages to fuse together healthy doses of doomy riffage, pummeling heaviness, and expansive/exploratory parts that just might take you on a journey to another planet. Not to mention that these sonic rumblings were again actualized by veteran producer/engineer/mixer Billy Anderson (whose star-studded credits list includes Neurosis, Sleep, High on Fire, Cathedral, Acid King, Weedeater, Agolloch, Leviathan, and Pallbearer), and mastered by Justin Weis (Slough Feg, Agalloch, Pallbearer, Ludicra, Hammers of Misfortune), so you know you’re in good hands here.

The track we have to premiere for you today is a deliberately-paced, triumphant barrage of doom-laden fury which by the end escalates into one of the most baddass guitar solos of the year by electrifying stringsmith Matt Price.

Headbang below. You can listen to a couple more previously released tracks from the forthcoming album on Decibel and Invisible Oranges, and don’t forget to pre-order the digital/CD/vinyl version on the band’s Bandcamp page.