Monarchy is a young Lebanese band of young people, with Omar El Hajj on Lead vocals, Alain Ibrahim on Guitar & Backing vocals, Sébastien Melki on Guitar & Backing vocals, Johnny Mouchantaf on Keyboards and Karl Sokhn on Drums & Backing vocals.

Monarchy released their first album “The Rise & the Fall at Lantis” on October 15th 2011 with a gig at Nova Pub in Sin El Fil. The album was recorded and mixed by Grind Studios’ Roy Naufal.

After several listens and being a prog music fan, here’s what I think of the album.

This album is complete in all sense, the music is great, the vocals are good, the concept is strong and the melodies are everywhere.

The intro is the most catchy part in the album, it really does its job of grabbing your attention and explaining the its concept. The piano melody is simple and perfect for the story telling. When it comes to the quality of recording, some weaknesses appear, but again this album was done with limited budget and Grind Studios’ Roy Naufal has done a great job considering the budget and the time invested.

The second track “Trial of Faith (The Rise)” is also one of the best tracks on the album. Great melody, consistent arrangement but a bit longer than it should be. All musicians show good skills and the recordings does not have much mistakes.

 

The major problem when it comes to sound is the almost absent snare drum and the dry distorted rhythm guitars. Another annoying part was the vocal effects on “The Crowning”, the voice of God is far from its character.

Owmar might not have the perfect voice, but his voice is perfect for progressive music and fits  the album greatly. I think Owmar can experiment more with his voice and get more cheese out of it.

Another minor flaw is the keyboard effect in “Overture to Destruction” but the rest of that track is really beautiful especially the use of backing vocals.

Trial of Faith (The Fall), the longest track on the album and the only instrumental seems to sum the band’s influences, but lacks the complexity to keep you interested.

To sum things up, this album is recommended to all metalheads with an open mind and an attitude of “let’s check this out and support”.

It will take time to get used to the music but eventually, some simple melodies will become addictive.

Monarchy’s ‘The Rise And Fall at Lantis’ CD is available at the LebMetal stand at any local LebMetal-covered event.