Monads — Intellectus Iudicat Veritatem

Intellectus Iudicat Veritatem originally hit the scene as a self-released demo limited to fifty copies. It sold out in six days and received rave reviews. All you doomsters caught holding your bits waiting for a used copy to surface can breathe easy; Ordo MCM has re-released it on CD. You've probably already downloaded it, but if you haven't, was it worth the bruised genitals?

Monads have given us five tracks of slow, not too heavy "doom." If it weren't for the distorted vocals, this would be considered a heavy, post-rock record. There are lots of low, slow guitars and plodding drums, but nothing bone crunching (as one reviewer said, "heavier than gravity." I'm no scientist, but...). With one exception, all the songs follow the same pattern: slow metal, then slow picked guitar over soft drums, then a big, metal crunch, then more slow sparseness. It's the ol' shampoo "lather, rinse, repeat" approach for forty minutes. Don't get me wrong, there are some really nice, wistful tones, dirgy riffs, and powerful melodies here. They're just presented in such a lackluster way that they get overshadowed by boring repetition. Maybe I'm being too harsh due to the review quotes sent along on the press sheet. Mind blowing? No. Mind numbing? Yes. With the bad behind us, we're free to talk about the highlight of the album, Absent As In These Veins. The arrangement of this jam showcases Monads' skills instead of obscuring them with tired genre cliches. They're not just going through the motions on this one...it has feeling!! Just to show you they mean business, the last minute is like a black metal teaser. Where was this passion in the first forty minutes?
 

A release's scarcity breeds interest. If you hear about a release and then FINALLY get your hands on it, you're probably going to praise it more than it's worth. I think that's what happened with Intellectus Iudicat Veritatem. Also, maybe the self-released tape sounded heavier than the pro CD. Either way, I cannot see how this album was so highly regarded. The last track is solely responsible for this CD's third star.