Artist: Monks of Mellonwah
Album Title: Turn the People
Album Reviewer: Dale Y the Green Guy
Rating: 3
Track List
#1 – Ghost Stories – Intro
#2 – Ghost Stories
#3 – Vanity
#4 – Tear Your Hate Apart
#5 – Pulse
#6 – Alive for a Minute
#7 – Escaping Alcatraz
#8 – Sailing Stones
#9 – Turn the People
#10 – Downfall
#11 – Afraid to Die
#12 – I Belong to You
#13 – Sky and the Dark Night – Part 2 – Control
The Monks of Mellonwah may be one of the most accomplished bands that you’ve never heard of. This album gives a little taste of what the Monks are all about, and their shows and musicality are making waves throughout the music world.
From Sydney, Australia, they have played world wide venues and this, their debut album, released after several successful EP’s, is an attempt to capture their sound and abilities as musicians that have made them a global success.
The two “Ghost Story” tracks pull you in so you want more, and “Vanity” gives a great bit of hard rock wordplay with “Vanity vanity…you’re stretching my insanity sanity.”
“Tear Your Hate Apart” is supposed to be their lead single, but compared with what comes before it, it seems to fall flat. Not that it’s a bad tune, it just doesn’t kick like the others, and almost appears to be a concession that conforms more to pop music than the rest of the sounds on this album. After that, the album gets a little muddy.
There is nothing that really stands out after the first few songs. It feels as if they have shot their load and just put in a bunch of fillers, and worse, they rip-off the beginning of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” opening guitar riff in “Downfall.” Yeah, it’s not exactly the same, but once you hear it you begin waiting for something as killer as the original, and it just doesn’t happen.
The song “I Belong To You” brings a little uniqueness back to your ears, but “Sky and the Dark Night” wraps it up and goes back more of the sameness that came before.
I tried really hard to like this album, but it just doesn’t get it. These guys are so good that you think anything they do is going to be a smashing triumph. But the truth is that, although there are flashes of brilliance here, the album just doesn’t stack up. Perhaps we can attribute this to first time jitters, because if you are fans of the Monks, or MoM as they are known, you also know that they are capable of greatness on every level, even though this album isn’t.