The Monolith is a dystopian concept epic featuring Karl Sanders (Nile), Brian Kingsland (Nile, Imperishable), and Björn Strid (Soilwork, The Night Flight Orchestra), by Hades Descent (UK) to be released worldwide on 4th September via Atlas Creative.
Their second full length album is being described as “a dark fusion of symphonic atmosphere, blackened aggression, and melodic precision” – Symphonic melodic death/black metal with cinematic scope.
Formed in Berkshire in 2019, Hades Descent carved out a reputation for ambitious soundscapes, ferocious intensity, and a penchant for collaboration. Their sound took a dramatic leap forward in 2021 with the arrival of vocalist D.M., whose devastating arsenal ranges from guttural death metal growls to piercing black metal screams, terrifying shouts, and ominous spoken drones. With Hades providing the core guitar work, composition, and full production duties, the pair form the foundation of the band’s evolving sonic identity.
The album was composed, orchestrated, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Hades at Titan Studios in Berkshire, underscoring the project’s uncompromising DIY spirit and singular vision.
“This is a concept album, based on an idea I had about five years ago,” explained Hades. “It’s taken that long to come to fruition! I hired an author, Tony Martucci, to turn the concept into a proper short story, which helped me flesh out the idea fully and turn it into the beautiful album you see here.”
The narrative is set centuries into a dystopian future, on a dying earth, where mankind has embraced cybernetics in pursuit of perpetual enhancement, until humans no longer know where they end and the machine begins.
One such being, after decades of work, harnesses the power to create a one-time portal to the past, where he hopes to become less than he is today, to shed his machine self and rediscover his human origins in peace. He cannot be free of advanced technology in his own timeline, but in the past his cybernetic parts fall away, leaving only the organic. He is willing to trade the near-immortality of his dystopian existence for the mortal experience of living amongst nature but on arrival he swears to uncover the decisions that doomed humanity, and correct them to avert the terrible future he left behind.
This journey begins in the opening track ‘Tomorrow Is Dead!’, where Brian Kingsland’s epic chorus sets the stage for the protagonist’s fateful escape. From there, the following tracks chart his life in the past as he searches for The Monolith, a stone carved with unique symbols that index reality itself and depict the path to the future. Along the way, he encounters tribes, takes part in raids and wars, and adopts a boy who aided him upon his arrival.
In the climactic title track, he finally discovers The Monolith after decades of searching, only to despair when he finds the crucial symbols missing. Believing himself stranded in the wrong timeline, he abandons hope of saving the future.
But the final twist reveals otherwise: the boy he once adopted is the one who later carves the missing runes into the stone. The protagonist had been in the correct timeline all along, but gave up moments before his destiny was revealed.
“For these epic bookends to the album, where the majority of the integral plot narrative is delivered, we enlisted help from our guest performers,” said Hades. “These remain some of my favourite tracks we’ve ever created. All were a pleasure to work with and gave the songs something unique that makes them truly special.”The Monolith is bolstered by high-profile contributions from:Brian Kingsland (Chorus vocals and lead solo on opening track ‘Tomorrow Is Dead!’; Karl Sanders (Second solo on ‘Tomorrow Is Dead!’), and Björn Strid (Featured vocals on closing title track ‘The Monolith’), Tim Goodson(Rhythm guitar and co-composition on ‘Tomorrow Is Dead!’
Hades Descent’s discography already includes two EPs, multiple singles, and their debut full-length The Solitary Path To Armageddon (currently being remastered for a future reissue). With D.M. on vocals and Hades driving composition and production, The Monolith represents the band’s most complete artistic statement yet; a towering blend of symphonic atmosphere, blackened aggression, and melodic death precision, set to establish Hades Descent as one of the UK’s most ambitious forces in modern extreme metal.
Tracks featured on The Monolith are: ‘Tomorrow is Dead!’, ‘Through Savage Seas’, ‘Forged In Darkness (And Fire)’, ‘Path Of The Seeker’, ‘The Oncoming Storm’, ‘Veiled Ambitions’, ‘Sentinels of Time: Illium’s Demise’, ‘The Sea of Silent Warriors’ and ‘The Monolith’.
