Rise of the Monument is a compilation of sorts, which includes Urgehal's 1995 demo of the same name as well as a live set recorded at Under the Black Sun Open Air in 2008. It goes without saying that this is pretty raw and rough stuff. The quality of the demo recording is alright, but you can definitely tell it's a demo. Raw, muddy and a bit sloppy, this is a good taste of the band in their early days, and anyone who's heard their most recent output will appreciate how much they've evolved without sacrificing their art. It took me two or three listens to really start getting into the demo part – it's that kind of demo, it needs a little work from the listener.
The live recording is pretty much the minimum quality (or slightly above) for releasing commercially, even for Black Metal. The sound is a bit "lost" here and there and it's sometimes a bit difficult to catch everything that's going on – at times I had no idea what was going on. The crowd noises a "club-like", so this really feels like one of those low-cost recordings that bands do at local shows. Interesting nonetheless, but a bit too crude for my taste. Overall I'd say that Rise of the Monument is a release for fans of the bands – newcomers will want to check out their studio output first.
