Widows – Raise the monolith
Raise the Monolith is the debut EP from Nottingham shouty types, Widows. Opening track Kiss of Failure features on our compilation, Black is Thee New Black, it’s a trouser flapping monster that will rip you a new one! Featuring the sort of riffs that Orange Goblin would be proud of Raise the Monolith is a must for any self respecting fan of Stoner Metal.
Widows are a great example of the band that is being created as the gap between Hardcore and Stoner gets ever smaller, Baroness’ influence is stamped all over this record. This EP is a good combination of the two genres and should appeal to fans of both, there’s plenty to get your teeth into whichever way you’re coming from. Three of the four tracks feature, as I mentioned, riffs that wouldn’t feel out of place on an Orange Goblin album but they are played at the sort of arm flailing energy that fans of bands like Cursed will more than appreciate, I wouldn’t be in anyway surprised to discover that at least a couple (if not all) the members of Widows were fans of Hardcore. Likewise, the vocals are more like the sort of thing you would find gracing a Hardcore record than anything you’d expect Dave Wyndorf or Ben Ward to utter. It’s only on final track, Drowned in Chains, that this EP strays into solid ‘doom’ territory, but even then the hardcore influence is obvious. Plus the High on Fire influenced riff out at the end is well worth the wait!
Many puritans would bemoan this mixing of genres, but not me. A bit of variation in the gene pool has never done a scene any harm, quite the opposite. Hardcore, stoner, sludge, doom or whatever have always has a fairly close relationship and this is a great record that combines the groove of stoner and the energy of hardcore, in other words the strengths of both genres.
There’s a lot of mixing of genres going on in the underground at the moment, maybe this is one of the effects of the download culture, maybe it’s because a lot of people are sick of the perpetual loop of Iron Maiden, Pantera / Lamb of God and Opeth worship the mainstream metal scene seems to have got itself stuck in. Who knows? Either way Widows have released an impressive EP that, although it isn’t exactly re-inventing the wheel, is an enjoyable mix of stoner boogie and hardcore energy. Go and get a copy!
by enos
