Monolithe - Nebula Septem album review

Initiated over 15 years ago as a solo project by a former gothic metal musician as a love letter to the then rather nascent funeral doom movement, Monolithe have grown over the years into a an actual band. While this subgenre’s key elements are still present in their core sound, they’ve learnt to smooth their edges. Even conceptually they’re offering something easier to digest here, centred around the number seven as this is their seventh full-length. So there are seven tracks (eight if you count the outro) whose titles start with the first seven letters of the alphabet, each performed by seven musicians, lasting seven minutes and using seven different tonalities. Amazingly, although it isn’t a huge departure from their previous outputs, the result is nevertheless very accessible, like a more melodic, electronic based Shape Of Despair