Monotony Fields

Monotony Fields is the fourth studio album by Finnish funeral doom metal band Shape of Despair, released on June 15, 2015 by Season of Mist as CD digipak and LP.^[4] It is the first album to feature Henri Koivula on lead vocals. The song "Written in My Scars" was first released on the EP Written in My Scars, but was re-recorded for this album.

Monotony Fields
Studio album by Shape of Despair
Released	June 15, 2015
Recorded	2013–2014 at City Lights Studio & S/Mental Studio
Genre	Funeral doom metal
Length	74:25
Label	Season of Mist
Producer	Max Kostermaa Shape of Despair
Shape of Despair chronology
Shape of Despair (2005) Monotony Fields (2015) Alone in the Mist (2016)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Against Magazine	[1]
Metal.de	[2]
Stormbringer.at	[3]

Musical style

The album continues the atmospheric funeral doom the band has been playing since their first album Shades of.... It is described as "melancholic and atmospheric", with "morose guitar lines" and "tragic ambient keyboards".^[1] The death grunts are "masterfully delivered", the female vocals are "gelid" and "angelic".^[1]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Reaching the Innermost"	10:32
2.	"Monotony Fields"	10:40
3.	"Descending Inner Night"	10:04
4.	"The Distant Dream of Life"	5:52
5.	"Withdrawn"	9:58
6.	"In Longing"	7:38
7.	"The Blank Journey"	11:50

All lyrics are written by Henri Koivula, except "Written in My Scars" (by Pasi Koskinen); all music is composed by Jarno Salomaa and Tomi Ullgren.

Bonus track

No.	Title	Length
8.	"Written in My Scars"	7:51

Personnel

Shape of Despair

• Henri Koivula – vocals
• Natalie Koskinen – vocals
• Jarno Salomaa – guitars & synth
• Tomi Ullgren – guitars
• Sami Uusitalo – bass
• Samu Ruotsalainen – drums

Production

• Max Kostermaa - producer, engineer, mixing
• Mika Jussila - mastering
• Juha Takalo - band logo
• Mariusz Krystew - cover artwork