Monarch!

Hailing from France is this female-fronted beast of a group, Monarch! Consisting of vocal distortionist Emilie, bassist Michell, Shiran on guitar and Robert wielding the sticks, Monarch! are wretchedly slow and soaked in a pleasant misanthropic feel. Emilie's scathing vocals will haunt you, eerie as hell and sending chills through to your bones before leading you into the shrieks of nightmares. You know when you hear or see something that makes you just want to take a shower? The thick wall of sludge seeping out of these guys is a perfect match with the vocals.

Having not had the chance to catch them live yet, I've only been able to catch live chunks that are floating around on YouTube. What I have seen is pretty intense. Everyone in the band is highly invested in the sound, slamming down on notes with the intensity of a freight train, as cliche as that may be, I don't think that anyone can listen to these guys (and gal) and not feel some sense of despair.

Check them out, go support the band...here's their myspace ( http://www.myspace.com/monarchuberalles ) and here's a couple videos. I'll post more later, don't want to give you everything at once...




here's one where you can see everything....not quite the same effect, but still amazing and intense as hell.