Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Monolord have never been a band that needs to reinvent themselves to stay relevant. Thirteen years in, the Swedish doom trio return with “Neverending” (out May 29th). It was produced by legendary engineer Sylvia Massy, whose credits include Tool, System of a Down, and Johnny Cash. That collaboration alone signals that Monolord were after something more deliberate this time — not louder, just more considered. As bassist Mika Häkki puts it: “We’ve looked back and seen for the first time how much we have done as a band collectively, and realized what an intense 13 years it has been.“
Massy’s production gives the album a clarity that lets every instrument breathe at its own pace. The guitars don’t simply fill the space. They echo through it, fading like sound carried off by wind. Then a riff pulls you back in, hitting harder for the quiet that came before. The bass sits at exactly the right level throughout. Sometimes it feeds quietly between the guitar lines. Other times it locks in with the heaviest riffs, giving them real weight. The drums carry the same careful restraint. At moments they almost disappear entirely, letting the guitar come forward. Then suddenly they return — with a technical precision that reminds you how much was holding everything together underneath.
Lyrically, this is Monolord‘s most personal record yet, according to guitarist and vocalist Thomas Jäger. You feel it in how the dynamics shift across the album. Tempo changes and mood pivots feel less like structural choices and more like emotional states moving through you. It’s almost as if the record is mapping out every facet of a single human day. The opener “Iodine” is a sophisticated, patient choice — it signals from the start that this record won’t be rushed. Then comes “You Bastard”. It tackles suicide from both angles — the perspective of those who leave and those left behind. The directness of it lands all the heavier for how plainly it’s delivered.
For me, though, track three is where the album finds its real centre. “Inside a Collider” runs just over eight minutes. Somewhere in the middle of it, I found myself in a completely different headspace — not just musically, but mentally. That’s a rare thing for a record to do, and it does it without fanfare. From that point on, “Neverending” settles into deep, heavy territory. The guitar work feels almost dictated by the drums. At times they step back and let the melody breathe. At other times they assert themselves with a technical precision that reframes everything around them.
Album closer “It’s Neverending” lands as a genuine surprise: it’s the first Monolord song that Jäger doesn’t sing on. Instead, the death-metal vocals are handled by former Entombed bassist Jörgen Sandström — also of Grave, Domedagen, and Firespawn. The contrast with everything that came before is jarring in the best possible way. It closes the record on an unexpected note that somehow still feels like a natural conclusion.
“Neverending” is the sound of a band looking back over thirteen years. They’ve decided to be exactly, deliberately themselves — only a little deeper, and a little more honest about it.
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