Album Review: Monuments – Phronesis (Century Media Records)

After touring the world heavily in support of their album “The Amanuensis” in 2014 Monuments needed to take a break and take a breath for multiple reasons. That didn’t stop the band working on their newest release, Phronesis.

“My personal relationship with the meaning of the record starts at ‘Stygian Blue’, which was the 2nd song I wrote for this back in 2015, which came to be while I was in the darkest place I’ve ever been in my 32 years”, says guitarist John Browne.

“We all had a bunch of issues that needed time to let heal, so in between writing we were, you know, fixing our broken souls.”

The self-produced album was finally recorded between March and July of 2018 in various studios throughout the world and will see the light of day on October 5th 2018 via Century Media Records.

The progressive metallers have outdone themselves here on Phronesis. The issues that have plagued the band over the last few years have given the band some deep and dark inspirations for this record. It sounds and feels very personal while not losing the core of raging heaviness and melodic catchy progressiveness.

It’s all present and in abundance with both A.W.O.L. and Hollow King’s high energy offerings.

Mirror Image takes a different route by leading with the clean vocals and a hip-hop style beat that switches into more complex riffing with blast of increased heaviness. It stands out because it’s markedly different then what came before but not because it wows unfortunately. In fact, it’s a little bland.

Phronesis works best when Monuments lead with the aggressive/hardcore style as the clean vocals, while well done, are nothing unique. It’s a constant battle between the two and most of the time it’s a draw resulting in a complete and satisfying track such as Leviathan and Celeste.

Monuments have crafted an impressive listen here. It’s not without its issues but the personal depth of it makes it stand out for a lot of the right reasons.

Monuments – Phronesis Full Track Listing:

1. A.W.O.L.
2. Hollow King
3. Vanta
4. Mirror Image
5. Ivory
6. Stygian Blue
7. Leviathan
8. Celeste
9. Jukai
10. The Watch

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You can find the album order links here and it will be available via all major services for streaming on release day. VIP tickets to their shows and merchandise can be picked up by Big Cartel. Find out more/keep up to date with news by liking Monuments’ Facebook Page, following them on Twitter and on Instagram.