MONOMYTH

On Monomyth's debut album the Dutch space rock unit jams away at extensive spaced-out psychedelic compositions which combine a Krautrock-esque groove with the sweeping compositional scope of the more epic school of post- rock. Far from merely turning over the space rock greats of the past like Hawkwind or Pink Floyd, they present a modern sound which draws on the techniques of substantially more recent musical subgenres in order to present their own distinctive style. It makes for compulsive listening, with vast soundscapes you can really get lost and swim around in, and certainly puts this hard-working crew onto the space rock map in a big way.

4.5 stars. MONOMYTH are a five piece Space Rock band out of The Netherlands and this is their debut from 2013 which was a great year for this style of music. The drummer Sander Evers was the drummer for 35007 and his work on here is certainly a highlight along with the organ. They are a five piece with one guy doing nothing but adding effects. The first four tracks are perfect, any of those four tracks would be great examples of what I call my kind of Space Rock. The closer is the longest at 17 minutes and is good but a lot more chilled, just not that big on it yet I can't ignore those first four pieces ranging from 8 1/2 to 11 1/2 minutes. They all have a similar style as they begin in a spacey manner then build from there and when the organ arrives, look out!

I have played this so often over the past many months. I started each of the four tracks with these words... "Quiet, distant sounds to start." "A spacey start..." "Spacey and windy as sounds pulse." "A quiet start with atmosphere". The opener kicks in after 2 minutes and the guitar is more serious a minute later. Powerful organ around 4 1/2 minutes. Next track trips along then the guitar leads before 3 minutes. Heavy riffs before 5 1/2 minutes then more heaviness as the organ kicks in hard. Third track turns heavy at 3 1/2 minutes. So good as the organ runs wild. Sounds like vocal melodies late. Fourth tune is haunting early on with synths then it trips along before turning heavy after 6 minutes. Oh my! Lots of organ.

The closer while not in the same league is not keeping me from giving this 5 stars. Man that four track run is maybe as good as it gets in the realm of Space Rock for my tastes.