MONACHUS (ICOS) – out of the blue

Due to artistic differences and a potential lawsuit over their chosen name, 2009 saw the death of swedens ICOS, a band known for its crushing impassioned resonance. In the years that followed, brothers Erik and Oskar Karlsson and Martin Bengtsson took the spirit of their former band and worked at creating a larger, more ominous and ultimately more considered sound, with their new drummer David Flood. This band would become MONACHUS. capturing an organic timbre that invokes images of these swedes toiling over beloved instruments, their debut album OUT OF THE BLUE draws influence from brooding sludge metal, yet invokes a sense of timeless peace, surging waves of sung and groaled voices, raucous walls of guitars and emotive poise.