Review: Mono ‘Oath’
Life, it’s a journey we all face, and for some of us, we will be lucky enough to fill it with the most amazing companions, who we get to connect with on such a level, that it defies both logic and understanding. It transcends language and barriers, and with the right people, it can be an organic symphony. Sometimes there’s a bittersweet irony to it all, and it’s with that incredible profanity it’s hard to believe that with the untimely passing of Steve Albini, the legend that he is won’t be able to witness this wonderful climax to his legacy working with one of my favourite bands in existence, Mono.
The fact that his passing has been so close to the release of the band’s new album Oath feels like the most unfortunate travesty, especially when this latest work feels like such a completion of the journey with the band. Albini, having been an integral element, will have been like that of an overprotective parent, watching a child grow, flourish, and evolve in the process. The loss, which has been a devastating blow for the music industry at large, I’m certain will have been even more impacted by the band themselves, and at this moment, it’s hard to convey fully just how deep that grief is.
Somehow though, with this record, if you listen, and take it all in, there’s a real feel of it being like a finale. A little hard to put into context fully, but having experienced all of Mono’s back catalogue, and especially being mesmerised by the previous album Pilgrimage Of The Soul, this time round it all feels more like a climactic calmness. It’s as if there’s an educated knowledge of it drawing to a close, not in an upsetting way, but more so in a serene, acceptance of it all reaching its end in a peaceful, warm way.
Maybe it’s just me though, it could be that I feel like it’s a calmer album than the last, but this time around the band seems to have been working on a project that gives a loving final spiritual journey to this whole experience. Right from track one, Us, Then, I couldn’t help but feel like this is the start of one last epic journey, an acceptance of an ending, and a love which will last for an eternity because it is so much more than just a music track.
As always, with everything Mono do, it’s so much more than just an album of tracks. It’s an experience. It feels timeless, always, and again, on this newest outing, the band are the masters, right from the opening seconds. As Us, Then builds and builds, to a flourishing crescendo and a serenity, it’s almost as if it’s telling the story of that journey coming to its end, an outpouring of emotion, followed by an acceptance, and finally a calm.
No one can touch Mono on this, they truly are the innovators and masters of this whole genre of music. They take a concept and through the expressive immersion sonically, will escort you on a ride into another realm with each track. Not that you can usually tell where one track ends and another begins.
It’s a sublime release, essential listening and a defining moment in the band’s career…
This is music that you have to give yourself to completely. It isn’t about levels of angst and anger or overwhelming pummelling intensity, this is all about the experience. This is for laying back, with the lights down low and letting yourself go. It’s about so much more than ‘music’, it’s about total immersion into a higher state.
By the time I regain any clarity of my surroundings after the opener, I’m already on track four, Run On. As is the way the album has been created, it doesn’t have stop start, stop start moments, the flow will drift you off, if you allow it to. As Run On progresses it is hard not to become at one with it all and feel the music flow through you. It picks up the pace, and before you know it, this vibrant sonic monologue has enraptured your very soul.
Reflection starts this next phase in the evolution of the album and has a little more angst. Each element of the band works together, to create a vibrant and yet equally pensive backbone to the piece, while the guitar builds in intensity, to create unrest within. You would think any band this far into their career, there wouldn’t be much room to still be innovating and diversifying, but you would be wrong with Mono.
Each track is a whole new experience and I can’t think of any point where I hear a new track and can look back to point to a similarity from any previous Mono album. Track seven, Hourglass, for instance, is so uniquely different, that even though if you know Mono, you will identify it as them, it’s still however a completely new in texture, while at the same time familiar. And that’s where they excel far beyond any of their peers. The band are just so good at capturing sounds, innovating, and welcoming new ideas and concepts that, even after all these years as a fan, it’s like I’ve only just found them.
Not wanting to bleat on too much, I would rather you follow my advice, and if you don’t already know of Mono, then invest in them, your soul will be so much richer for it, and if you do already know Mono, then make this album a priority if you haven’t already.
It’s a beautiful finale in a legacy of working with a pioneer as an additional member of the band, who sees the vision and embraces it. It’s a sublime release, essential listening and a defining moment in the band’s career.
Label: Pelagic Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Twitter | Instagram
Scribed by: Lee Beamish
