Nominon - Monumentomb

 

NOMINON - Monumentomb (BLOOD HARVEST - LP 2010)

Arrghhh, an album, which I was waiting for, “Monumentomb” from the Swedish death squadron called Nominon, came out through Blood Harvest Records, with – as usual – cool front artwork and really nice, old styled layout. Sadly I didn’t manage to get the LP with a bonus 100 copies limited 7”EP – one day someone will have to sell me one though, otherwise I’ll cut his throat - but I’m happy to have a regular version of the vinyl. Nominon obviously walks their own path of thrashing death metal made in Sverige and all those, who enjoyed the previous releases from them, surely won’t feel disappointed. The band kept their quality and even the sudden departure of the previous vocalist didn’t hurt “Monumentomb”, especially as they’ve hired Erik Sahlström – known from such bands as Maze of Torment, Serpent Obscene, General Surgery – as their studio session vokiller (with additional help of Tore Stjerna in one song and Johan Thornberg (ex Insision) in one also), so he’s not a newcomer, but experienced screamer. It all clicked quite easily.

If you happen not to know Nominon yet, then I guess the best way to describe the style and sound of this band on this LP is to mention such bands as Merciless, Maze of Torment, Tribulation, Stench, Kaamos, Crown of Thorns (so early The Crown) – so, Swedish bands, which play death metal, but mixed with a lot of old styled thrash. You won’t really find here many resemblances to the usual Swedish stuff like Dismember, Entombed or Grave, maybe just some occasional riffs will remind you those bands. Instead there may be some resemblances to Unleashed (“Archfiend”!!!), even Bloodbath (“Mantra Reverse”)… So, obviously the music is going to smash you, it is constantly punching you in the face with aggression, ferocity and even some blast beats will make you cry for mercy! But there are also many hooks, which will help you to memorize some of those tracks – luckily, as without them the whole album would probably sound terribly monotonous and each song would seem to be a copy of the previous one. So, there will be “Mantra Reverse” to smash you with some excellent, fast riffing – definitely one of the highlights of this album, with a great doomy mid part, which actually sounds like an Autopsy riff mixed with Entombed - and then there’s also “Undead Beast”, which will catch your attention with the growl-along type of chorus. And if you feel a bit of a neck ache, after first three fast and merciless songs “Kevorkian Exit” will help you to catch the breath with more mid tempo and almost sorrowful, at times also melodic, playing.

“Monumentomb” do not really bring anything new and fresh to already conventional genre. To be honest I don’t even think this is the best of Nominon full lengths. In many parts it even sounds kind of mediocre, but still solid enough to enjoy it. Personally I would probably expect a bit more from such an established band, something truly more killer and devastating, but from the other hand I cannot say that “Monumentomb” is a failure. As I already mentioned, it is solid and good record, with many killer parts and some particular songs are worth the bloodshed.

Standout tracks: “Mantra Reverse”, “Archfiend”

Final rate: 70/100