Style: Progressive Metal, Industrial Metal (Mixed vocals)
Review by: Christopher
Country: US-NY
Release date: 1 July, 2022
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, said Oscar Wilde, “that mediocrity can pay to greatness”. Or, as prog’s inimitable mad scientist, Devin Townsend, once put it: “While we all have lots of bands who influence still, we all rip off Meshuggah”. There are plenty of influential progressive metal bands who are constantly ripped off, for better or worse: Dream Theater copycats seemingly stalk the recording studios of the world in packs, and common wisdom has it that you’re never more than a mile away from a group of stoned twenty-somethings practicing their best Tool impression, but few bands have dared to rip off good ol’ Hevy Devy… until now!
New York-based metalheads Monolith Zero have made a masterclass in uninspired hero worship with their self-titled sophomore. Devin Townsend’s patented wall-of-sound production style has been lovingly replicated, and it’s uncanny how much the harsh vocals sound like Devin’s own fry screams. Indeed, the hairless Canadian goofball’s DNA is all over this album; a forensics team would have a field day. “Surrender” opens with such a typical early Devin riff that you’ll think you’ve stuck Ocean Machine on by mistake. “Happy” opens like “Namaste” from Physicist, then tries to ape some of the zany banter from “Deconstruction”, and seemingly repurposes a line from “Forgive Me” off of Casualties of Cool. “Seeker” manages to simultaneously remind me of about eight different songs from Accelerated Evolution and Synchestra. They even have their own Anneke van Giersbergen counterpart providing guest vocals on “Sun”. “Manifest” is the one song that doesn’t have an obvious Devin cognate.This is an album where a mere chord change can throw you out of your current listening and into a Devin Townsend reverie.
By now you’ve probably realised that I’m a big Devin Townsend fan. As a result, my first listen of Monolith Zero was an exercise in nigh constant déjà vu: “oh yeah, it’s this song! … wait, I’ve never listened to this album before!” It’s not like Monolith Zero are shy about their worship; they outright state their music is for fans of Devin and Strapping Young Lad, and they previously covered “All Hail the New Flesh”. As much as they’ve done all they can to cultivate as similar a sound as possible, there are differences: the clean vocals, despite attempting their best impression of early Devin, have a little of that stereotypically metalcore whine and are unavoidably weaker. The guitar solos are actually very impressive: death metal sweep ‘n’ shred that, I have to admit, surpasses their idol’s rather schizophrenic, noodling style of soloing. But that’s about it for actual differences; if you’ve heard three early Devin Townsend efforts, then you’ve heard this album too.
The question that arises is: why? Why expend such effort mimicking another artist? Either Monolith Zero are so utterly bereft of ideas that they’ve essentially cloned their favourite musician, or they just want to have fun with a small community of die-hard fans; cultivating an Easter egg hunt for a contingent of like-minded Dev-heads who want nothing more in life than Accelerated Evolution II. If it’s the latter then there’s nothing wrong with that, but there isn’t an equivalent to “Deadhead” or “Earth Day” or “Funeral” on this record; Monolith Zero’s sound resides on the more pop-metal side of Devin and SYL, akin to his filler work rather than the stand-out classics. They take all the tropes of Devin but never really build upon his style, unlike other Townsend-worship bands like Organized Chaos or The Omega Experiment who weave their own ideas into the fold.
I appreciate that Monolith Zero clearly love Devin Townsend as much as I do and that they’ve made such a reverent recreation of his sound, but if you’re going to invest so much effort in sounding like another artist you’re inevitably going to remind listeners that they could be listening to that artist instead. It takes talent to so assiduously replicate another musician’s sound, especially one as unique as Devin, but you’re never going to beat him at his own game. The times when I enjoyed this album most were on the frequent occasions when I forgot I wasn’t listening to Devin only to remember and then feel somehow deceived.
Monolith Zero seem to have invented what can only be described as musical cosplay; dressed in their best bald-caps and pipe-cleaner dreadlocks, they have crafted an uncanny valley listening experience that knows everything there is to know about Devin Townsend except why he’s successful. You can get the guitar tone, the production style, the compositional tropes and the lyrical sincerity as close to the real thing as you like, but this isn’t the real thing and it never will be; it necessarily lacks the authenticity and charismatic novelty that define Devin. It’s fine to cut your teeth on some hero worship, but I want to hear what these guys can create themselves because they obviously have the necessary skill and passion; they just need to break out of the imitation game. We have lots of bands who influence still; Monolith Zero should go and listen to some. As for me, I’m going to throw on Ocean Machine for the millionth time.
Recommended tracks: Seeker, Manifest, Happy
Recommended for fans of: Devin Townsend, Strapping Young Lad, The Devin Townsend Band, The Devin Townsend Project
You may also like: Organized Chaos, The Omega Experiment
Final verdict: 5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Independent
Monolith Zero is:
– Nick Eustaquio (lead vocals and guitar)
– Mike Rance (guitar and backing vocals)
– Ian Dubson (drums and backing vocals)
– Daniel DeGeorges (keyboards and backing vocals)
– Brandon Sussman (bass guitar and backing vocals)
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