British prog metal/djent idols Monuments are here with their fourth studio record In Stasis following 2018’s successful Phronesis. Fans of the band know exactly what they are signing up for with every Monuments release, and In Stasis is comfortably familiar, yet takes a few risks to expand their musical horizons to enjoyable results.
Monuments was of the successful forks of Fellsilent (the other being Tesseract), with guitarist, founder, and primary songwriter John Browne being the brains, heart, hands, and most importantly, wrists behind Monuments’ brand of djent-y progressive metal. Tracks like the released singles “Cardinal Red” and “False Providence” highlight some of the new tricks that Monuments brings to In Stasis, focusing on large choruses with soaring vocals courtesy of new vocalist Andy Cizek. In particular, the verse/chorus section of “Cardinal Red” relies on huge open chords and frenetic open strumming creating a high tempo off-timed goodness.
In Stasis relies on six string guitar work with a near standard tuning (open tuning with a low string dropped two steps), that yields an interesting blend of Intervals-style high-register melody with the lower end staccato chugs of older Monuments (and Periphery). The choice to eschew lower register extended range guitars is commentary on the scene/genre at large, proclaiming that heavy, catchy, and quality djent can be written without relying on the trappings of low-end chugs. That isn’t to say that In Stasis doesn’t bring the heavies; “Opiate” and “Collapse” are easily among the heaviest tracks Monuments have ever written, “Opiate” calling upon Phrygian Dominant mode melodies giving us an almost Born of Osiris flavor, whereas “Collapse” is more old-school Fellsilent with a hint of After the Burial. These reference bands come as high praise to Monuments, as they are able to nod to other band tropes while severely adhering to their own brand of songwriting.
In Stasis comes with a bunch of vocal and songwriting features. Album opener “No One Will Teach You” is an absolute slapfest with the aggressive vocals courtesy of original vocalist Neema Askari and Periphery’s superstar vocalist Spencer Sotelo lends his tremendous pipes to “Arch Essence”. In perhaps the biggest reveal of this record, In Stasis was co-produced by Mick Gordon who has become a bit of an industry icon exploding into metal stardom after scoring video games like Doom2016, Doom Eternal, Killer Instinct, Prey, and others. His electronic and symphonic elements especially on “Lavos” cut through the traditional Monuments sound perfectly. There is almost a wish that with such a heavy namedrop like this, his contributions would have been a wee bit more heavy handed. His own brand of Argent Metal is a perfect accompaniment to the progressive metal sub-genre, and it would be fascinating what his songwriting with an established band like Monuments would yield.
Speaking of skronks, “Somnus” throws plenty of growls and low end djent chugs at us, before Cizek croons his now trademark choruses. By this point in the record, the In Stasis formula is beginning to take shape, a catchy djent main riff, a stripped back verse riffset, and open chorded choruses with poppy belted vocals, and a breakdown-laden bridge. The biggest gripe that can be levied against In Stasis is that the vocal hooks just aren’t memorable enough, especially when they follow the aforementioned template. When put up against a dense backdrop that is Browne’s multilayered writing, this reviewer struggled to remember any of the vocal hooks besides the major singles like “Cardinal Red” and “False Providence”. The orchestration courtesy of Gordon on “False Providence” elevates a great main riff and chorus to epic proportions, and we hope that Monuments brings more of these elements on future releases.
It is no surprise that Monuments is a quartet of experts. Every musician is at the top of their game, yet bounce off each other seamlessly courtesy of genius songwriting, highlighting each of their primary strengths. John “Downpick God” Browne continues to be Lord Wristbreaker as he downpicks at immense speed with immaculate precision. As a particular point of praise, Browne continues to tirelessly educate the community with his various musician masterclass video content, his own songwriting podcast, and production tips along with other prominent musicians and producers in the scene. But it is records like In Stasis that prove that they aren’t just educators, and they can still play the hell out of their instruments. Drummer Mike Malyan is back in the fold and holds down the different vibes to the arrangements playing with different time signatures, adding his own flair to tracks like “Makeshift Harmony” and closer “The Cimmerian”. I wish that former guitarist Olly Steele had remained with Monuments, as he brought surprising songwriting elements to the Monuments machine. As a final err, the bass courtesy of Adam Swan is woefully underused on In Stasis. This could merely be an artifact of a lower quality stream, that much of the bass detail was lost. Up the bass on future records, Monuments!
In Stasis is a thoroughly enjoyable blend of chunky, melodic, and boppy progressive metal, with sparks of brilliance littered all over its runtime.