A View From The Back Of The Room: Pantheïst & Monolithe (Matt Bladen)

Pantheïst & Monolithe, Fuel Rock Club, 09.09.26



First of all before I start this review, this was another South Wales gig where the crowd was disappointing, both of these bands deserve much bigger audiences, as witnessed by the other shows on this tour.

So there's clearly an audience out there, what's even more dissapointing is that this marked the debut UK show for one of the bands on the bill as they came to the UK for the first time, to be presented with a lack lustre crowd, which was no fault of the promoter or the bands, must have hurt.

Cardiff, if a couple from Boston who were on their honeymoon can come to Fuel on a Wednesday night then you can too.

Anyway that out of the way it was time for the gig itself and it was a two band bill, I did think that maybe a another local band as an opener may have bolstered the audience a little more. However it meant we got two extended sets from both bands, which is useful when both are in the doomsphere, so the chance of having elongated tracks is pretty common.

It was French progressive doom crew Monolithe (9) that began the evening with their psychadelic, sprawling, doom metal, that draws heavily from tech-noir and synthwave in their style.

Dropping an excerpt of Vangelis' Blade Runner theme between Soyuz and To Wander The Labyrinth as their tracks swirl around you with some gorgeous twin guitar harmonies, swirling keys and lumbering riffs, driven by drummer Antoine de Mieulle.

What was impressive about having him behind the kit is that he's not actually Monolithe's drummer, both he and vocalist Antoine Dumortier joined the band for this tour due to Thibault Faucher and Quentin Verdier unable to take part due to personal reasons.

If you didn't know that though you wouldn't have noticed as both fit into the Monolithe perfectly. Monolithe are a band who feel like music from the future, French cyber doom that deserves your attention so let's hope they return soon.

Pantheïst (9) however are a band who hail from Cardiff but recently they have been bewitching audiences across the Europe, with a few festival appearances this summer. Back on home territory though they were using this show as a home town warm up for the Plymouth, Ipswich Liverpool and Sheffield dates on this tour alongside Monolithe. 

Bookending their set with tracks from their upcoming record Uncanny Times, both The Final Journey and Ithaca Out Of Sight have been worked on the live stage and are at their best now, delivered by a version of the band that is at the height of their powers.

The classical keys, 70's prog rock synths and ecumenical organs all add to the funeral/atmospheric sound of the band as Kostas Panagiotou conducts the doom symphony. His screams and sonorous cleans are of course joined by the incredible soprano range of Linda Dumitru, who's addition to the band I've celebrated since it happend back in 2023.

Together they play off against each other and combine together bringing the dramatic and theatrical elements to Pantheïst, with Be Here particularly marking the second time within a week I've cried at a gig.

Pantheïst though are heavy, colossal doom riffs that driven by the distorted, intense riffs of Atanas Kyurkchiev (guitar) and Matt Strangis (bass) as Fanel Lefterache's commanding drums mesh the whole performance together as Pantheïst delivered a set of atmospheric funeral doom to a small but passionate crowd which did increase as the night wore on.

Two of the genres most innovative acts together one stage made for a exemplary evening of doom in the capital city.