Monterey - It Always Passes Over Me...

Labels: Third House Label/Zegema Beach Records

Formats: Vinyl/Digital

Release Date: 28 Sep 2026

Tracklist:

1. Song for a Dead Bird

2. Resolve in Spring

3. Song for a Falling Bird

4. With Ease

5. Untitled

6. Portraits

7. Acts as Atonement

8. Dying with Shame

9. ...It's Always in Motion

Today, I finally filled my fourteenth Ikea Kallax cube with LPs. That means I have nowhere for my smaller records to go, until I sort out more storage. I've got to get on that over the next few days (recommendations are greatly received!). Talking of LPs, the debut 12" from Floridian metalcore/screamo band Monterey was released last month via Third House Label and Zegema Beach Records.

Containing members from Concealer and Rosemary Nods Upon The Grave, Monterey formed in 2024 and to date they've released a two song single and splits with Keep Reaching, and Self Inflicted Wound respectively.

I found metalcore through the NWOAHM. Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Unearth and Himsa, to name but a few, I also first heard European bands like Caliban and Heaven Shall Burn around the same time. I only mention that particular sub-genre because it has been used to describe Monterey’s sound. Opening their debut album It Always Passes Over Me… with ‘Song for A Dead Bird’, Monterey build from subtle emo/screamo beginnings to flourishes of emoviolence and back again. It’s definitely emotive, with a great use of melody and truly heavy instrumentation, alongside the higher-pitched screams. 

‘Resolve in Spring’ is a fantastically off-kilter song that’s so infectious. Again, very emo centred but heavy too in all the right places. Given the bands that lend members to Monterey, this record is both familiar and unexpected (if that makes any sense at all). ‘Song for a Falling Bird’ has a panic-inducing layer of sound that radiates throughout the song, with all kinds of other elements adding suspense and release.

There’s a much more straightforward approach to ‘With Ease’, which is immediately heavier. That up-front sound withdraws during the song’s mid-section though, once again providing safety in measured melody and just as you’re feeling secure, it bites again with fury. Monterey manage to perfect the art of punch and counter-punch, where opposites collide. It’s here where the mid-point is reached, with ‘Untitled’ acting as an interlude that threatens to overspill. 

It refrains from doing so though. Instead, leaving that job to ‘Portraits’, where Monterey truly let fly. It’s the heaviest song on the album so far and it’s where I’m finally beginning to understand the metalcore comparisons. ‘Acts as Atonement’ follows suit with another barrage of intensity, coupled with the introspective melody that’s now part and parcel of grass roots screamo. I’m not talking about whatever mainstream tosh the industry thinks is screamo!

Before you know it, you’re nearing the end of the album and penultimate song ‘Dying with Shame’ is exactly the jump-start needed, showing that Monterey can write sub one-minute blasts that still sound complete. I talked about opposites earlier on and you can’t get more opposite than ‘Dying with Shame’ and the eight+ minute closer ‘…It’s Alway in Motion’. Out goes the fierce tempo (initially) and in comes a more pensive intro.

It’s an intro that picks up pace though, albeit gradually as it’s allowed the time to do so. Monterey’s instrumental prowess is allowed to build as well, especially because those instruments take centre stage for the majority of the song. It’s six minutes in before the full band bursts forth one last time, reminding us all of their explosive nature.

I think I got a bit too hung-up on the metalcore tag at the start of this review, even though I’m still looking for the current day equivalent to those bands I mentioned above. Talking about Monterey and this record in isolation though; it was definitely a cathartic experience. Heavy in all the right places but also lighter when it needed to be. Monterey show great song-writing experience, which shouldn’t come as any surprise. Epic!

You can stream It Always Passes Over Me... at Monterey's bandcamp game below, where you can also download it digitally for just $1 (total bargain!):-

Monterey Instagram - @monterey.fl

12" vinyl copies are available from the label stores below:-

Third House Label - https://thirdhouse.limitedrun.com/products/877920-th115-monterey-it-always-passes-over-me

Zegema Beach Records CAN/INTL - http://www.zegemabeachrecords.com/zegema-beach-releases/monterey

Third House Label Instagram - @thirdhouselabel

Zegema Beach Records Instagram - @zegema_beach