Despite the fact that the album title ostensibly owed to the richest branches of slam, Dwellnought actually release a kind of feedback-drenched blackened doom. Atmospheric theatricality is the name of the game, with an album that seeks to deprive the listener of anything approaching light, optimism or major keys. Thunderous feedback collapses into slow bpm plods with drawn-out trem chords that fill the negative spaces in time for isolated cymbal/bass drum hits, before finally morphing into a crushing riff, while vocalist S grunts and screams a little further back in the mix. Doom has the greater prevalence as Monolith of Ephemerality rarely exceeds a quick run in tempo, with any bursts of speed ultimately landing back in exhausted continuations.
That commitment to an exhausting atmosphere is admirable, but it comes at the expense of almost everything else. Dwellnought have attempted an unusual formula, channeling Teitanblood’s claustrophobia into the production, but channeling it through an almost Bell Witch chord that tunes with occasional touches of Ossuary crust. The formula finds its peak at the start, with the long-form intro “Slumbering Through the Dream of Impermanence” flowing seamlessly into the massive 17-minute barnburner “The Final Desire is Unbeing”. Here is Dwellnought’s recipe in its most refined form. The otherwise pointlessly lengthy intro is atmospheric and cinematic, with the shift in tempo and tone in the next track executed masterfully. Within that long run are sections largely indebted to the drum-machine era of Blut Aus Nord that tie into a barbaric coughing waltz effortlessly. That 20-minute opening kick shows real promise, evoking the abyss in texture as much as in color, or the lack thereof.
If only the rest of the album had followed suit. The qualitative drop over the last three fifths represents not so much a slope as a sudden fall where memorable songwriting is sacrificed entirely on the altar of mood. The devotion to mood is evident, as no note approaches anything upbeat or uplifting, but by avoiding such things, Dwellnought also bypass the memorable quality or impact.
“Crystalized Flesh Identities Condensed into Wombs of Matter” can’t decide if it wants to be fast or slow and has tempo changes characterized more by indecision than deliberate arrangement. Both this and “Ill Whispers” often rely on chords that echo through extended percussion with minimized drumbeats, but the notes blend so homogeneously that I struggle to tell whether there are actually riffs or whether Dwellnought are driving atonality into oblivion.
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The opening of both tracks borders on self-plagiarism in their similarity, and no moment of threat approaches the climax of the earlier tracks. What’s more, Monolith of Ephemerality ends with a 6-minute assault that contains nothing but static and a whining voice speaking from the void, which is brutal since “Crystalized Flesh…” ends exactly the same way. An attempt at narrative is evident, and yet that climax is far from worthy, given the lack of memorable scenery to justify such a noisy outro.
And yet, I keep returning to those first twenty minutes. It takes balls the size of a birdan airplaneClarkKent’s to open your already lengthy album with the highest-quality riffs. If those two tracks made up the entire Monolith of Ephemerality as a single-track EP (not unlike Suffering Hour’s Dwell, for example), this would be an excellent addition to the end-of-year EPs. There’s a genuine seed of promise in the way Dwellnought have given their very best, but the collapse in quality as the album continues can’t be disputed. The mix is huge, the tone dark, the atmosphere oppressive and the influences are a recipe for a good time. But somewhere along the way, Dwellnought stared so hard into the abyss that eventually even the abyss stopped staring back. With atmosphere and very few riffs, this album is an excellent reminder to be careful what we wish for.
Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 5 | Format reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Caligari Records
Website: Album Bandcamp
Releases worldwide: February 20, 2026
