Wąż - Monolith
Interstellar Smoke Records - 2025
Progressive Metal, Progressive Stoner, Progressive Rock
Rated: ****1/2
On their sophomore album Polish progressive rockers Wąż aren't making life easy for themselves. They combine (amongst others) progressive stoner, progressive metal and psychedelic rock, while also using polyrhythms on a regular basis. Chances are they could be facing a brick wall in no time, but they manage to avoid it with gusto and even make their complex instrumental cocktail sound quite accessible. So, let's explore this Monolith together, because, well, this album is something that can't be ignored and stands out in the landscape that surrounds it.
Opener 'The Dawn' comes straight at you with a mixture of (mainly) heavy progressive metal and some more intricate sidesteps that venture into progressive rock territory, while using odd rhythms and different atmospheres that melt together into a new feeling that stands on its own. Hope this makes some kind of sense, because I can't find another way to describe it. The first half of 'Impulse' continues on the progressive metal trail but mixes it seamlessly with a stoner-like groove before the foot is taken of the gas and makes room for a meandering passage and a heartfelt guitar solo. You can almost feel the water in brook flow towards bigger things before the composition abruptly gets back to being its menacing self.
And that's just the beginning of this seven track album that has got a perfect flow from start to finish and an excellent production as well. 'Collapse' starts with a beautiful guitar intro before a heavy stoner riff kicks in. It shifts pace and energy on various occasions and has another ripping guitar solo, while the drums and bass contain a jazzy vibe in some parts. There's so much happening here you'll have to listen to it yourself to fully grab what's going on. That goes for the whole album, but especially for 'Collapse', which I would say is my favorite track of the bunch if someone decided to put a gun to my head and force me to make a choice.
The remainder of the album has got the two longest compositions, as well as the only two that don't even reach the six minute mark. You can probably guess there's some serious progressive stuff going on in the epic tracks with beautiful paths that'll lead you to new grounds to discover. The title track even has some slow, kind of weird space rock shenanigans going on. The two shorter tracks are a true diptych, with the first part being the build up to the second part that lets some post rock influences seep into the complex progressive rock that leads the way. An eclectic piece of work before 'The Receiving' rounds things of. It's another bout of progressive metal mixed with progressive rock that makes this excellent album come full circle. It fades out a little after nine minutes and after a two short pauses offers two surprising hidden tracks, one being a truly wonderful short composition on acoustic guitar and piano.
Hope this review convinces everybody to check out 'Monolith', because it's a true gem that needs to be heard by as many people as possible.
(Written by Ronny Dijksterhuis)
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