MONO: Requiem For Hell (POST ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

"Requiem For Hell" is the ninth album of Mono, a Japanese band founded in 1999. Takaakira Goto (solo guitar), Tamaki Kynishi (bass and piano), Yasunori Takada (drums and keyboards) and Yoda (rhythm guitar) took the audacious bet to propose, from the beginning, instrumental albums with careful arrangements letting each of us forge a very personal interpretation of their music.

This ninth release also marks Mono's reunion with Steve Albini (sound engineer for PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Pixies, Bush and many others) whose last collaboration dates back to "Hymn To The Immortal Wind" in 2009. With a sound recognizable among a thousand (rhythmics, bass, saturation), this album is one of the darkest of the Japanese combo's career but also one of the most majestic.

Like the artwork, the listener will go through several antinomic feelings, in a dizzying way, during the five tracks that make up the album: love-despair, fear-hopelessness, hope. Mono captivates immediatly with 'Death In Rebirth' and its growing lyricism that makes one think of a lyricless Anathema track and a guitar close to Danny Cavanagh's playing. Martial drums blacken this track with a terrible darkness. Moving from the shadows to the light, 'Stellar' is a benevolent breath with strings and a peaceful piano, before entering the heart of the album with the eponymous 17-minute title track. Built in the form of a loop where several instruments are grafted, the first ten minutes of the first part are hypnotic. The tension that develops there falls into the darkest darkness, in the second part, with saturated and oppressive sounds creating an impression of anguish. But with Mono, the light is never far away and 'Ely's Heartbeat', whose rhythmic architecture is inspired by the heartbeat of a not yet born child, will soften the subject. This light will eventually completely enveloping the listener after having gone through all kinds of trials before, with 'The Last Scene', ethereal, serving as a generic for this symphony and whose melodic influence of Anathema is not far away.

The ambivalence of the melodic atmospheres is highlighted by a beautiful production where each instrument is remarkably mixed. Here the musicians reach their peak in their unity and maturity. The guitars are alternately swift and melodious, the piano brings its restful and enlightening touch and the rhythm section often put forward is of an undeniable precision and nuance.

Listening to a Mono album is an experience that is always different and that borders on introspection, even cinema, appealing to the heart and imagination of the listener. The images will probably come as you listen to it over and over again, and sometimes they will never be the same, depending on the mood of the person who receives this music that touches the soul.
- Official website

MONO

REQUIEM FOR HELL

PELAGIC

POST ROCK