{"id":821400,"date":"2026-03-12T19:45:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:45:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/821400\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T19:45:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:45:13","slug":"review-monosphere-amnesia-the-progressive-subway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/821400\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Monosphere – Amnesia – The Progressive Subway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Published by Vince<\/strong><\/a> on March 12, 2026March 12, 2026<\/p>\n

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Artwork by: Lukas Klotz<\/a><\/p>\n

Style: Metalcore, Progressive Metal (Mixed Vocals \u2013 mostly harsh)
Recommended for fans of: Kardashev<\/a>, An Abstract Illusion<\/a>, Silent Planet, Humanity\u2019s Last Breath
Country: Germany
Release date: 13 March 2026<\/p>\n

Amnesia is a popular writing trope in genre fiction. Sometimes, this decision yields positive results, like Jason Bourne or Final Fantasy VII\u2019s Cloud Strife, whose mysterious, fragmented pasts are used to explore themes of identity and purpose. Other times, we get characters like the amnesiac Endministrator (Arknights: Endfield), who employs the personality of an unpainted wall while affording the developers an excuse to mag-dump lore, concepts, and game systems at the player, leading to largely uninteresting stretches of time.1<\/a><\/p>\n

With third LP Amnesia, German progressive metalcore act Monosphere<\/strong> bring this conceit forward as the framework in which to encase their muscular, aphotic, and atmospherically aggressive blend of post-metal and metalcore. I was reminded of Kardashev<\/strong>\u2019s deathgaze masterwork Liminal Rite (2022), whose exploration of a man\u2019s return to a home he can hardly recall delivered one of the most devastating musical moments in \u201cBeyond the Passage of Embers\u201d. (Excitingly, Kardashev<\/strong>\u2019s Mark Garrett guests on Amnesia\u2019s closing track.) With two prior conceptual albums in the rearview (The Puppeteer2<\/a> and Sentience), and a desire to maintain the efficacy of their artistic vision by remaining independent, Monosphere<\/strong>\u2019s tenacity and confidence in their work is commendable. But as it goes, threequels can be notoriously difficult to pull off. Do these German genremancers have what it takes to deliver something impactful? Or will I need a plucky and patient sidekick to fill me in on the details?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll say this: opener \u201cCollapse\u201d will slap you out of whatever torpor may have befallen you, drums and chugs coming in loud and hard like a shockwave to get that attention lifted while thrumming synths fill the space beneath. Vocalist Kevin Ernst heralds the metalcore bombardment crashing at his back with meaty harshes befitting this thick, guttural breed of modern -core. Motes of the apocalyptic, megaton designs of Humanity\u2019s Last Breath<\/strong> float in the ashen, industrial air, glittering in the light of black fires as guitarist Lukas Klotz drops bunker-busting chugs against the megastructural foundation laid down by drummer Rodney Fuchs and bassist\/keyboardist Marlon Palm. Ernst deploys cleans that shift between a semi-spoken singing and gravelly bellowing that lends tracks like \u201cCollapse\u201d and \u201cNadir\u201d a sense of grandeur and grit alike, channeling images of Ernst\u2019s avatar standing amidst smoldering architecture as golden rays beset his pleading visage. Ernst even pulls some black metal-adjacent screams on \u201cNadir\u201d to create a sense of vicious urgency and anguish. Post-metal guitarwork wanders across the devastation in a contemplative stupor, shocked and lost. Melancholic yet lively keywork in tracks like the interlude \u201cAllusion\u201d supply Amnesia with elements of majesty and madness alike, as though the gossamer threads of reality are set to come undone at any moment as the album\u2019s dystopian weight and desperation build to a fever pitch (\u201cLimbic\u201d).<\/p>\n

Fittingly, the back half of the album feels like fallout, with the decidedly moody (and bass-driven) \u201cIdiomorph\u201d embracing the band\u2019s post-metal attitudes as Ernst delivers some Silent Planet<\/strong>-coded verses. Clean, resonant guitar dances around him like lost hopes, tribal drums build to pounding double-bass, and those grand, dolorous keys return. Like the aforementioned Kardashev<\/strong> and Liminal Rite, Monosphere<\/strong> do an admirable job of conveying a sense of narrative across Amnesia, even if my understanding of it comes from more of an emotional context as opposed to literal. \u201cLimbic\u201d appropriately feels like the midpoint of the album, \u201cEngram\u201d the \u201creturn to threshold\u201d (to pull from Dan Harmon\u2019s Story Circle), with \u201cDissolve\u201d standing as the work\u2019s final denouement; a thunderous, lamenting conclusion that sees the band pulling out all the stops (and Mark Garrett). \u201cDissolve\u201d brings metalcore chugging, breakdowns, symphonic theatricality, Meshuggah<\/strong>-esque soloing, blast beats, post-metal miasma, and\u2014perhaps better than any track on the album\u2014pulls them all together into a fittingly epic finale.<\/p>\n

While Amnesia\u2019s forty-two minutes of devastating progressive metalcore often nails the target, the front half of the album can leave the listener suffering from shellshock. \u201cCollapse\u201d, \u201cAnomia\u201d, \u201cNadir\u201d, and \u201cAllusion\u201d blend together into one long song whose melding of elements add difficulty in separating out where one track ends and another begins. While hardly an issue if you\u2019re a fan of this sort of continual musical storytelling (which I am), if you enjoy tracks having some separate personality apart from an album\u2019s overarching musical aims, Amnesia\u2019s opening moments may not be the most playlist-friendly. Nor do they lend themselves to any singularly memorable moment\u2014unlike, say, the grooving bassline nestled within \u201cDissolve\u201d, or the dance-inspired rhythm in \u2018\u2019Idiomorph\u201d.<\/p>\n

All said, Monosphere<\/strong> surprised me with Amnesia, a decidedly propulsive effort that combines my love of crushing metalcore heft with contemplative and grandiose moments via effective genre blending and potent performances across the board. Conceptually, the album succeeds more figuratively than literally, but the band nonetheless do a solid job of giving Amnesia a narrative ebb and flow that, while diminishing the efficacy of individual tracks, creates a rewarding start-to-finish journey. Whether Amnesia will take root in my mind alongside the likes of a Liminal Rite, only time can say. But memory is a fickle thing, anyway, and so I\u2019m glad to have spent this time with Monosphere<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Recommended tracks: Nadir, Idiomorph, Zenith, Dissolve
You may also like: Despite Exile, Vestigial, Unethical Dogma, Artifact, Liverum
Final verdict: 7.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n

Related links: Bandcamp<\/a> | Facebook<\/a> | Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Label: Independent<\/p>\n

Monosphere<\/strong> is:
\u2013 Kevin Ernst (vocals)
\u2013 Lukas Klotz (guitars)
\u2013 Marlon Palm (bass)
\u2013 Rodney Fuchs (drums, keyboards)
With guests<\/strong>:
\u2013 Jei Doublerice (additional vocals on \u201cNadir\u201d)
\u2013 Mark Garrett (additional vocals on \u201cDissolve\u201d)
\u2013 Justin Felder (additional instruments)<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n