Finland’s MONSTERNAUT Keep it Real with Brash New LP, ‘Approaching Doom’
In an age of fakeness, doubt, and lies MONSTERNAUT are keeping it real AF.
Down to earth in every respect, the Finnish band's new album 'Approaching Doom' (2026) is back-to-basics garage metal that don't need no fancy dancy digital tricks and back room splicing and dicing to bring it to life. WYSIWYG, period. Pure and utter heavy annihilation. Matter of fact and in your face.
Recorded last year over a 10-day period "on and mixed to RTM SM900 magnetic tape using analogue equipment and VOVOX sound conductors," the band shares. "No editing, no autotune, no amp emulations and no drum samples were used on this album. This human-made music is genuine and pure!"
Ten granite tracks are what you're in for, with stark titles like "Black Blizzard," "Human Stew," and "Final Pain," featuring sweeping wave-run riffs and heroic shredding from guitarist and vocalist Tuomas Heiskanen, motorific rhythms from bassist Perttu Härkönen, and big, brash drumming care of Patrik Kuitunen.
The rawness, honesty, and brutality of this collection of songs takes me all the way back to Metallica's St. Anger for a point of comparison. Many fans were shocked by the harshness and bare bones production (a disenchanted coworker of mine gifted me with the CD), preferring the magic mirror illusions of high studio production. Yet something about it really drew me in as I listened to it on long I-5 back and forth commutes to work.
While I might get myself into trouble for comparing Monsternaut fare with Metallica's most controversial album, I mean it as a high compliment. Authenticity will always win over parlor tricks, especially in this disappointing age of AI slop. A band should, in this writer's opinion, be able to reproduce it live as it sounds on the record or GTFO of Dodge.
Come witness the future soundtrack of the Mad Max generation. This is Monsternaut's Approaching Doom, out Friday on Heavy Psych Sounds (get it here or here). Stick it on a playlist with Megadeth, High on Fire, The Watchers, Rifflord, and Bone Church.
'Approaching Doom' is the third album by Monsternaut, a darker and heavier representation of the band’s established devotion to groovy riffs and to the point compositions. The songs took shape over several years, during which the arrival of a new drummer opened the door to more adventurous rhythms and riff ideas, pushing the band into new territory while staying true to their roots.
Drifting away from the fuzzy stoner rock of the early days, 'Approaching Doom' showcases a darker, more metallic and uncompromisingly stomp-inducing sound. Sonically, the album leans toward the grit and weight of early 90s metal rather than polished modern production, giving it a raw and immediate edge. Its lyrics and atmosphere follow a naturally darker direction as well, adding an extra layer of tension beneath the grooves.
MONSTERNAUT - Approaching Doom by HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS Records
Recorded entirely the old fashioned way, straight to analog tape with no digital editing, it captures the band playing as they are, relying on performance, chemistry, and feel rather than correction. The result is a record that hits harder, feels more focused, and marks a confident new chapter in Monsternaut’s evolution.
