Origin:	New Zealand
Genres:

Monsterworks

Monsterworks was formed in New Zealand in the late nineties by friends Ian (guitars) and Jon (vocals/guitars) and released demos and the like while building a local following. A debut album was released in 2000, but then Ian decided to move to England. A new guitarist was found and another album, Rogue was put out in 2002, but by this time Jon realized the band was growing and that ultimately it would be difficult to move to the next level while still in New Zealand. So he, too, packed up and took off to England, where he met up with his former mate Ian and, with new members in tow, Monsterworks was reactivated, with three more albums released since the move. The latest of these is Spacial Operations, the band making the bold move of offering the entire album free for download from their website (still available as of this writing) and threatening to sue anyone who sells the album. A novel way to get one's name out there, that's for sure. As for the music, it's actually quite well developed, and fairly original to boot. Both vocally and musically there is an occasional similarity to Devin Townsend and Strapping Young Lad, though hardly enough to call this band a soundalike. Clearly rooted in both traditional and modern metal but with breadth and an additional slight spacey influence, this is pretty unique. Most definitely deserving of a record deal and some greater exposure.