You’ve got to hand it to Fin Fang Foom, they’ve never crumbled in the face of adversity. Their backstory reads like a Spinal Tap script rejected for being just a bit too bleak. Formed in 1996 the bands original drummer Peter Enriquez was killed when a tree fell on his car. Having regrouped after such a tragedy and pushed on with new drummer Mike Glass, Triplett then contracted spinal meningitis and nearly shuffled off the mortal coil too.Some bands might have taken such misfortune as a sign from a higher power to cease and desist, but thankfully Fin Fang Foom continued on and they’ve been slowly gathering a swell of support.Monomyth is Fin Fang Foom’s fourth album, but their first in six years and in the time that the band has been away post-rock has evolved considerably. It has crept into the outer-reaches of the metal scene with bands such as Pelican and Isis making an indelible mark on a much maligned musical movement, and shoegaze has made a reappearance on the sonic radar recently too. As such it’s a pretty well timed return for Fin Fang Foom, and fortunately, Monomyth is a perfectly executed album that incorporates elements of metal, post-rock and shoegaze to dizzying effect.Opening with 'Magnetic North', the band is quick to assert its authority. A simple guitar line augmented with a gentle vibraphone refrain soon gives way to a galloping rhythm and Sanchez’s wonderfully detached vocals. He drifts inside the songs at times sounding languid, and rarely as engaged and driven as the music suggest that he perhaps should be. Yet it works perfectly, giving the frequent aggression inherent in the music a counterfoil with a clearly wounded yet not quite defeated Sanchez providing a damaged human heart.'Regret' calls to mind The God Machine, which lets face it is no bad thing, and the band continue with a distinctly aggressive edge with Triplett’s guitars roaring and spitting throughout. Invigorating it most certainly is.It’s only when we get to 'Lonely Waves' that things calm down considerably with Sanchez’s brilliantly wandering bass line underpinning a basic clean guitar line and some nicely orchestrated strings. If the opening two-song salvo was the band coming out fighting, then this is the post-punch regret hurtling to the fore with the mournful strings piling on the agony. “We struggled on when most had lost their way” intones Sanchez, which probably tells you everything you need to know about this record.Deathless is perhaps the finest moment here when everything comes together perfectly. Simple guitar patterns twist over throbbing bass lines and combine with a vocal that simply drips with emotion. Just when you think that it can’t get any more emotive the band evoke a storm that is slow in coming but truly explosive when it arrives. It’s the sound of a band on top of their game and it’s truly breathtaking.'Exploding Coast' continues with the bomblast, and drifts along the shore of post-metal with an introduction that wouldn’t be out of place on an Isis album. Sanchez awakens from his slumber too, providing a truly ripping vocal just when required, as the band pummels their way through some gratifying grinding sections.There are moments all across this album that are truly jaw-dropping. Admittedly there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking here, but the moments of pain, aggression and elation are handled so perfectly that Fin Fang Foom still delight more often than not. This is a band that know their art and come up with stunning results time after time. It may have been a six year wait, but it has been well worth it.