Formed in 2013, this band is made up of Swedish rockers Thomas Jäger,
Esben Willems, and Mika Häkki. Both Jäger and Willems were in the
Swedish boogie rock band Marulk and started Monolord as a side project
as a way to play some more heavier tunes, they quickly added Häkki (from
The Don Darlings, ex Rotten Sound) and realized that they had something
very special between the 3 of them. Monolord became very real very
quickly and recording commenced in early 2013. Thomas Jäger had not sung
in a band before this one, but you would never know it by the sound of
it. Having met EasyRider Records head hauncho Daniel Hall over instagram
in May of 2013 when the record was ready to listen to, EasyRider was
one of the first that it was sent to and picked up the band immediately
after hearing the finished album that will come out worldwide on April
1st 2014, this first offering is of pure hellfire of unrestrained heavy
doom that has the ability to shatter windows and put people into an
induced coma. The album titled, Empress Rising, has all of the flavors
of an iconic doom record and follows in the footsteps of Sleep Holy
Mountain, Pallbearer “Sorrow and Extinction”, Electric Wizard “Witchcult
Today” with melodic vocals and harmonies that are super psychedelic and
easy to sing along with.
- - - -
Swedish
sludge metal three-piece Monolord are making their way to our shores
for the first time ever. Together with Italian psychedelic metal
heavyweights Ufomammut, these modern masters of the riff have their
sights set on bringing their hypnotic rhythm and doom-laden soundscape
across continents, before they head back into the studio to record their
third LP.
“We’re
definitely looking forward to these shows,” says bassist Mika Häkki.
“We’ve been fine-tuning our setlist while also working on new music. We
were planning to release a full album this year, but we’ve been touring
so much that we ran out of time.”
To entice audiences ahead of a recent tour of North American, they released a 10’’ limited edition vinyl recording of Lord of Suffering / Die In Haze, but Häkki says that work will resume on their next full length offering once they’re back home in Gothenburg.
“We’ll continue to work on the new album once we get back from Australia - we hope to release it by next summer. We have a lot of music written down, but we still have to record everything and it can take months once we start the promotion and everything - but we plan to have it out as soon as we can.”
Despite appearing on the scene only a few short years ago, Monolord have amassed a loyal following, thanks to 2014’s Empress Rising,followed in quick succession by Vaenir in 2015. “We’ve all been in different bands over the years, but when I met Thomas [V Jäger – guitars and vocals] and Esben [Willems – drums] we found that we really like the simplicity of being a three-piece,” Häkki says.
“You can make yourself heard and find your own place in the music among less people, as well. We’re able to pool our resources together to find compromises and solutions. I’ve been in bands that had two guitarists, an organ player and separate singers. It’s always harder with six different people to make all those decisions.”
While both Jäger and Willems were previously members of Swedish boogie rock band Marulk, Häkki cut his teeth on the classics. “I started learning music at a classical school, then I moved on to electric guitar and bass. I also play drums and the violin – in fact I started my musical career with the violin,” he says. “I’ve always played a lot of different stuff - I play a lot of double-bass and contrabass. I like to play bluegrass and country. I’m going to record some stuff when we get back home to Sweden.”
Häkki admits that he has always been drawn to alternative music and the underground scene, but as the number of punters at live shows continues to dwindle, he fears that bands like his and Ufomammut may soon find themselves without a place to play. “I can see it happening globally. Here in Gothenburg and all over Europe and the USA, the cities are closing vital music venues down,” he says. “It seems like the owners don’t want to support the live music culture, and a lot of the younger crowds have lost the will to go to live shows.
“I remember when I was a kid going to shows all the time,” Häkki says. “It’s not the same anymore. A lot of people just watch shows on YouTube – it’s a weird phenomenon.”
So keep the dream alive and catch these multi-talented musicians as they unleash the wrath of the mighty Monolord from the east coast to the west, in this massive international metal double-header.
To entice audiences ahead of a recent tour of North American, they released a 10’’ limited edition vinyl recording of Lord of Suffering / Die In Haze, but Häkki says that work will resume on their next full length offering once they’re back home in Gothenburg.
“We’ll continue to work on the new album once we get back from Australia - we hope to release it by next summer. We have a lot of music written down, but we still have to record everything and it can take months once we start the promotion and everything - but we plan to have it out as soon as we can.”
Despite appearing on the scene only a few short years ago, Monolord have amassed a loyal following, thanks to 2014’s Empress Rising,followed in quick succession by Vaenir in 2015. “We’ve all been in different bands over the years, but when I met Thomas [V Jäger – guitars and vocals] and Esben [Willems – drums] we found that we really like the simplicity of being a three-piece,” Häkki says.
“You can make yourself heard and find your own place in the music among less people, as well. We’re able to pool our resources together to find compromises and solutions. I’ve been in bands that had two guitarists, an organ player and separate singers. It’s always harder with six different people to make all those decisions.”
While both Jäger and Willems were previously members of Swedish boogie rock band Marulk, Häkki cut his teeth on the classics. “I started learning music at a classical school, then I moved on to electric guitar and bass. I also play drums and the violin – in fact I started my musical career with the violin,” he says. “I’ve always played a lot of different stuff - I play a lot of double-bass and contrabass. I like to play bluegrass and country. I’m going to record some stuff when we get back home to Sweden.”
Häkki admits that he has always been drawn to alternative music and the underground scene, but as the number of punters at live shows continues to dwindle, he fears that bands like his and Ufomammut may soon find themselves without a place to play. “I can see it happening globally. Here in Gothenburg and all over Europe and the USA, the cities are closing vital music venues down,” he says. “It seems like the owners don’t want to support the live music culture, and a lot of the younger crowds have lost the will to go to live shows.
“I remember when I was a kid going to shows all the time,” Häkki says. “It’s not the same anymore. A lot of people just watch shows on YouTube – it’s a weird phenomenon.”
So keep the dream alive and catch these multi-talented musicians as they unleash the wrath of the mighty Monolord from the east coast to the west, in this massive international metal double-header.
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[Video]
[Discography]
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