Now more than ever seems like the most appropriate time to share the long anticipated, debut album from Australian black grinding death metal act, ‘MUNT,’ entitled ‘The World Is Not Yours.’ The name of the album is a dark reversal of a classic optimistic slogan ‘the world is yours’ which promotes individual empowerment and the idea that anyone has the ability to succeed with easily accessed opportunities and an environment fit to thrive. With their debut album, ‘MUNT’ projectile vomits thirteen tracks of relentless brutality inspired by everything that makes them sick in this world. The world is actually not yours, it is drowning in collapsing societies, hate, violence, division, destruction and the carnivorous hunger for power and domination. The world is infected with a gastro virus engineered by humanity. As I hear the news reports in my lounge room, talking about an almost unimaginable act of pure hatred where many lives were lost, this album has never felt so relevant. We are living in a world where unity is used to justify violence; a society that is obsessed with progress but continues to decay; social media posing as a tool that brings people together when it accelerates devision; and leaders amplifying hopelessness and dispair with selfish strategies and actions. Thankfully, when you love metal music, an album that sounds this good stirs up all those warm, happy feelings, even in the darkest times.

Even though the lyrical explorations suggest an eternal darkness for humanity, the skilled instrumentals and compositions ‘MUNT’ show on this first full length is a raging fire in the black abyss. Prepare to be engulfed by their clever blend of black metal, death metal, grindcore and hardcore ladened with devastating societal analysis. The vocals are a massive muscle flex which at times remind me of the growls created by my favourite man in metal ‘Trevor Strnad’ (original lead singer of ‘The Black Dahlia Murder.’) One of the many reasons why this album captured my little metal heart.

The tone is set immediately, opening with sounds of social collapse; gunfire, sirens and voices of distressed civilians. Machine gun percussion then leads listeners into an explosion of brutality with ‘The Lies That Bind (2)’ This track is toughened with deep gutturals and down tuned chugs. There is also a glimpse of blackened vocals, a teaser for whats to follow. Blackened vocals are the main star of the show in ‘What Dark Future Awaits (3)’ Lightning fast snare taps create hardcore energy, a dark ceremonial voice channels European black metal and duel vocals that will warm the coldest metal head’s heart. ‘Diminion (4)’ transports listeners to hell on earth with distressing drawn out, guitar notes paired with chaotic tempos. ‘A Duel Fractures (5)’ was released as a single along with a film clip, which was well chosen. This song is a real crowd pleaser, opening with spine tingling, drawn out blackened style screams; churning riffs create circle pit urges; a good amount of the tantalising duel vocals heard on earlier tracks and an eye watering guitar solo. The album interludes halfway through with eerie, soft, dream state melodies. After listeners are given this brief moment of calm for reflection, the organised chaos continues. Unconventionally, the album has an outro style audio which would commonly be used as a finisher. Instead, ‘Noose Dragger (13)’ closes it out and it’s far from a wind down. You could interspersed this as ‘MUNT’ not intending to leave listeners in a state of relaxation once the album is finished, they intend to have your emotions match the chaos and despair that ‘The World Is Not Yours’ contains. Of course this is just a shot in the dark, nevertheless, it was unpredictable and it works. Almost like a sad ending to a movie, a happy ending is predictable and comforting, however, a sad ending catches you off guard, perhaps unsettled but a deeper respect.

‘The World Is Not Yours’ is a well rounded, well thought out, solid metal creation. It has all things that make up a great metal album; gloom-soaked brutality, complex song structures, exceptional musicianship, diverse gutturals and relevant, thought provoking lyrical content. This album blew me away, it is some seriously high-standard metal from the Australian underground that you wont want to let slip by unnoticed. ‘MUNT’ have come firing out of the gates with their first release and can’t wait to see these guys kill it on tour.

‘Munt’ are set to play their newest material live supporting ‘Cryptopsy’ and a headlining, Australian tour. Head to their social media to check out tour dates, head to a show, buy some merch, help them shoot into the stratosphere.

Track List

1. I- An Epoch Of Turmoil and Strife
2. The Lies That Bind
3. What Dark Future Awaits
4. Dominion
5. A Duel Of Fractures
6. The Lords Of Excess
7. II- Emptiness and Everything In Between Us
8. Dehumanation: Concrete Grave
9. Cruelty And The Condemned
10. The Divine Toil
11. Prisonearth
12. III- A World Of Sorrow
13. Noose Dragger

‘MUNT’ is:

David ‘Spud’ Robertson
GUITAR / VOCALS

Sol Laskowski
GUITAR / VOCALS

Tim ‘Mothlord’ Richmond
VOCALS

Ronnie Dixon
BASS

Jared Roberts
DRUMS

https://muntgrind.com/
Instagram: @muntofficial