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Monument (Remaster)
Remastered digipak edition with 4 live bonus tracks and new liner notes.
"Well it took some time but I have finally gotten around to this review. As you could’ve probably could have guess by my earlier, and less matured, reviews of Hallows Eve you would’ve thought me a fan. This is true in all respects as Hallows Eve to this day still ranks as one of my favorite thrash bands. To me this troop of four is one of the best at constructing well written, crushing mid-paced thrash metal, although it wasn’t quite present on their bombastic debut “Tales of Terror” it came through in a very evident manner on their sophomore effort “Death & Insanity” now here we sit in 1988 at the band’s third album, and the final of the classic years of the band. As I’ve already stated this review was a long time coming, I’ve had my copy of “Monument” for most likely a year and a half now and it has taken me quite some time to properly gather my thoughts about this CD.
Two years ago I raved about “Death & Insanity” being the be-all, end-all of Hallows Eve’s discography, but with songs like “Lethal Tendencies”, “D.I.E.” and “Nobody Lives Forever” who wouldn’t. But upon my first listen through of “Monument”, my jaw slammed to the floor in amazement. They had topped their previous release with gusto. Every department of the band’s sound had improved, the vocals clearer, the riffs better constructed, a sharp sound so tight you could bounce a quarter off of it, and all without forsaking a memorable listening experience (many times after listening through this album I’ve caught myself humming out “Speed Freak” or the title track). This album the band continues the slower, more crushing vein of thrash that they made on “Death & Insanity” with a nod or two to the debut’s speed metal frenzy style (see “Speed Freak” or “No Sanctuary” for this). But for the nearly forty minutes that this album runs the listener is constantly barraged with quick memorable riffs, allied with a sharp snappy bass and a heavy set of drums not just adding a rhythm to the sound, but really adding to the experience.
The polished production backs this up; giving a nice gleaming sound that retains some of the mandatory rough around the edges thrash sound. Also worth noting is the guitar tone of this album, while nothing extraordinary, like Ed Wynne from Ozric Tentacles, it has that sort of crunchy tone that was used by many bands of the day (Coven from Washington and Mandator from Belgium most notably).
The album starts out with a bombastic call back to the band’s earlier days, “Speed Freak”, which is as the title suggests a speedy number much like what one might find on the debut “Tales of Terror”. Song features an absurdly simple riff, some gang vocals and a chorus that will stay glued to your mind. Also worth noting about the opener is the break in the middle, sounds quite a bit like something you would hear from the likes of Nuclear Assault, crushing and has a nice build to it before exploding back into the main riff. The proceeding track is a cover, and a very well executed one at that. Hallows Eve take Queen’s “Sheer Heart Attack” and transform it into their own kind of monster (it is worth noting at the point I had first heard this album I had never heard the original rendition of this song and the chorus had caught me off guard making me think that my CD was skipping). Monument then veers off into the mid-paced territory explored on “Death & Insanity” with the next two songs “Rot Gut” and “Monument (To Nothing)”, “Rot Gut” easily being the slowest album from the album featuring a spat out verse following closely to the guitar’s doomy beat. “Monument (To Nothing)” a song telling the story of the music scene of the time the song was written (“This era, this music, this scene, all a great mon-u-ment to nothing!”) features one of those memorable gang-chant choruses paired upon a simple but effective riff.
As the album continues forth it speeds up a bit, with the exception of “The Mighty Decibel” a slower track much like “Monument (To Nothing)” in song structure. The other three tracks on this end of the album “Painkiller”, “The Righteous Ones” and “No Sanctuary” all have that speedy sense that “Speed Freak” had at the intro. “The Righteous Ones” opening up with a mid-paced riff that one would have expected to hear on Coven’s “Blessed is the Black” before breaking into a full speed frenzy.
This album marked an end of an era for Hallows Eve; this was the last album before their break-up and eventual re-union around 2004. They were able to re-obtain the sound that they had achieved on “Death & Insanity” and “Monument” but both albums still hold the test of time. The true shame is that Hallows Eve never was able to break out of the underground despite, label backing and well written songs, but so long as the albums are found and enjoyed by metalheads their name will live on." - Metal Archives