New Music Review: MONOLORD ‘Neverending’

Rating: 9 / 10 Stars

MONOLORD is: Thomas V Jäger (guitars/vocals/keys), Esben Willems (drums/percussion), Mika Häkki (bass/piano)

REVIEW – Swedish doom heavyweights MONOLORD return with ‘Neverending’, due on May 29th via Relapse Records, and this feels like a band stepping into a new chapter without abandoning the crushing weight that built their name. After five albums of long-form, hypnotic doom, MONOLORD made a deliberate move toward shorter, sharper, more immediate songs, bringing in producer Sylvia Massy to help refine years of riffs, ideas, and heavy atmospheres into something more focused.

‘Neverending’ still carries that massive MONOLORD sound, but this album feels more human and direct. Thomas V Jäger pulls from personal upheaval, relationships, loss, and emotional weight rather than leaning only into abstract themes. The result is an album that proves heaviness is not measured by song length alone.

“Iodine” opens the album with a massive yet surprisingly concise statement of intent, blending classic rock atmosphere with MONOLORD’s trademark doom weight. “You Bastard” follows with one of the album’s strongest hooks, pairing a memorable groove with lyrics that explore the complicated emotions left behind after suicide. “Inside A Collider” stretches back into the band’s longer tendencies, drifting through memory, distortion, and grief with a slow-burning heaviness that fully surrounds you.

“Crystal Bridge” brings the album back into tighter focus with towering riffs and melodic tension, while “Oozing Wound” sinks deep into hypnotic doom repetition with a darker drop-tuned edge. “The Masque” shifts into a more dreamlike space, balancing emotional vocals with thick atmosphere and a feeling of being trapped between worlds.

“Invisible” is one of the album’s more immediate songs, carrying frustration and isolation through a strong groove and heavy emotional pull. Closing track “It’s Neverending” is a massive finale and the first MONOLORD song that Jäger does not sing on. Instead, Jörgen Sandström brings thunderous death-metal growls, pushing the track into darker, heavier territory and ending the album like the ground opening beneath you.

What makes ‘Neverending’ stand out is how deliberate the evolution feels. MONOLORD have not softened their sound; they have sharpened it. With Sylvia Massy helping shape the material and Brad Boatright mastering the final product, the album feels powerful, focused, and emotionally heavy.

After more than a decade of creating some of the most hypnotic heavy music in modern doom, MONOLORD prove they are not interested in standing still. ‘Neverending’ is crushing, personal, and deeply immersive. It is still doom, but it is doom with scars, reflection, and growth.