Review: Dol Theeta – Monad

Style: Prog Rock, Prog Electronic, Prog Metal, Space Ambient (clean vocals)
Review by: Sabrina
Country: Greece
Release date: 10 June, 2022

Monad is the second full-length album by Greek prog band Dol Theeta, released after a 14-year long hiatus. Consequently, quite a lot has changed since their debut The Universe Expands. Kortessa Tsifodimou’s vocal skill has aged like fine wine as her strength, endurance, and range have greatly improved from an already impressive debut; her lyrical and vocal deliveries are powerful, probably ranking amongst the strongest of the year so far throughout the prog metal scene. Multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Thanasis Lightbridge has also shifted the stylistic focus of Monad closer to eclectic prog rock rather than metal, as the riffs have mostly stepped from the foreground and into the rhythm section in favor of their vibrant, spacey synths (enough to warrant a couple of “electronic” genre labels) and Kortessa’s lead vocal harmonies. Nonetheless, there is still plenty of technical, standout guitar work in this album, albeit more spaced apart. Generally, the music is a bit more subtle which takes a bit longer for songs to hit, but you’ll gain an adequate payoff for the time invested.

While their debut album was more about humanity’s interaction with a vast, mysterious cosmos, Monad‘s theme illustrates the triumphs and obstacles of our conscious isolation. Even though we are (seemingly) surrounded by other thinking people, a mental barrier still isolates us. As of today, nobody can truly know what the thoughts and feelings of others are, and even though we can appeal to the best explanation, every social interaction is taken through a small leap of faith. We enter this world alone, through life we create egocentric monoliths, and like an astronaut walking into deep space, we exit this world alone.¹

Moving onto the music itself, if I didn’t emphasize it enough, Kortessa Tsifodimou almost steals the show in this. Her vocal style is classical and operatic, almost similar to Einar Solberg’s (Leprous), but the way her vocal passages are harmonized makes them feel super epic and climactic. Some of the best songs are “We Die Alone”, “Modus Operandi”, and the extravagant “Enchanted”, where her vocals capture the strongest melodies and are still complemented with enough quality in the instrumental bridges to give us a bit of variety. Furthermore, all three are bustling with energetic acoustic guitars, groovy riffs, and a combination of tribal and progressive electronic sections.

In contrast, “Umbilical” succeeds in building a subtle, spacey atmosphere with wandering synths and developing vocal croons; these bridge into sentimental verses complemented by staccato backing vocals, capitalized by back-to-back synth and guitar solos. The most metal song on the album is “Quicksand Portal_,” which features ominous synths sounding a bit like the newest Hail Spirit Noir album, and a piano section reminiscent of late 90s Dream Theater. To push the conspicuousness of their prog metal references, their spoken word interlude ordering and drinking an amazing cup of coffee harkens back to the tale of the omniscient alien himself.

In “Monolith”, even though the vocals are loud and going for an epic sound, their lack of melody and one-note approach make them fairly forgettable. Along with the chuggy riffs and extended atmospheric sections, the synths could not save the song from feeling draggy. The same criticism could be also extended to most of the title track; even though it’s over seven minutes long, not much could be taken away from it other than the ending vocal climax.

Overall, Monad does not have any enveloping weaknesses in its core sounds aside from being a prog metal album with minimal guitar work. Also, some of the weaker tracks can easily weaken the album flow. But despite these shortcomings, Dol Theeta pulls off something grand, captivating, and introspective. And as far as the uniqueness of this album goes, aside from Thanasis’ other work in Dol Ammand, I couldn’t find any other music with this combination of vocals, spacey progressive electronic, and prog metal influences since Marge Litch‘s final album in 1998. Sure, not every song sticks the landing, but when they do, they do so with enviable grace.

Recommended tracks: Enchanted, We Die Alone, Modus Operandi, Quicksand Portal
Recommended for fans of: The Gathering, Mike Oldfield, Therion, Stream of Passion
You may also like: Dol Ammad, Marge Litch, Hail Spirit Noir, Eureka, Galahad
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page

Label: Thanasis Lightbridge – Facebook | YouTube

Dol Theeta is:
– Thanasis Lightbridge (synthesizer, drums)
– Kortessa Tsifodimou (vocals)
– Dimitris Makrantonakis (guitar)

¹ I’ve always liked the aesthetics of astronauts and early 1900s scuba diver gear to complement themes of isolation and death. Both outfits are used to travel on our planet’s edges of tangibility. Being tethered by nothing but artificial umbilical cords they are just one snip away from falling into endless space and the murky depths of the ocean. Insulated in their suits they are confined to their own minds, surrounded by blackness they are separated from human connection. Our minds tend to wander when we are alone; this is illustrated nicely by the album art.