Mono - The Last Dawn / Rays Of Darkness

Mono - The Last Dawn / Rays Of Darkness

I admire Mono. They´ve been around for fifteen years now and have continued to convey their idea of crushing beauty in the form of noise, melancholic melody and wordless narrative. After For My Parents in 2011, my favorite album of that year, the question of “what´s next?” began to creep up in my mind. Even though Mono have their own musical idea and have been following it throughout their career, the criticism of repetition does hold trues as for many other instrumental band. I guess not a single fan would contest on the idea of another Mono record centered on the band playing with an orchestra, but as some, the band itself might have felt that they were constraining their energy too much. Thus came the idea for a double album and an approach akin to “back to the roots”. Funny fact and unpopular opinion: My favorite album by Mono, to this day, remains their first effort Under The Pipal Tree. Better known as the Mono album the band themselves don´t really like referring to or mentioning at all. Back then, the outfit described themselves as a noise band, and even at first listen the music speaks on a much grander scope and hints at a band far greater then what they aspired to be. Without huge strings or any gimmicks the band, just like Explosions In The Sky, managed to haunt souls with just their drums and guitars. Little epics going from highest tension, bone crushing loudness to tender melodies and tear-jerking mourning. The beginning line from “The Kidnapper Bell” is as much part of my aural memory as the voice of my parents.

So when Takaakira Goto announced a stripped down version on one part of the album a more abrasive sound on the latter part, my hopes were high. Would they really be returning to a former self musically and giving us a album without string sections? Yes they did! And the result is perfect reminder of why I fell in love with this band in the past. The “calm” part The Last Dawn plays like a very focused and grown Under the Pipal Tree. Mono have come to rely on their guitar melodies once again and turned away from using the string sections as emotional filler (as far as I know and hear, there are still some string around though). For some this might feel bare and lacking any depth, but here the band speak their language unfiltered and touch the hearts of the attentive listener. Most songs center on a piano lead like in “Kanata” or “Where We Begin”. These songs might recall moments like “A Thousand Paper Planes” or “The Remains Of The Day” but they don´t fall into the quality of a segue or interlude, appear to be more fleshed out and part of the narrative. The Last Dawn weaves a picture of sunlight piercing thick fog, of a lost ideal and also bitter nostalgia. Every churn of the guitars is as much uplifting as it crushes with sadness. If one thing, this is Mono best iteration of pure emotion yet. 

Having said this, and after taking in The Last Dawn, Rays of Darkness is much denser and complex listen and at first sounded like an afterthought and not necessarily like the “darker” part promised. I´d claim that it would have been wiser, maybe not for the narrative Mono are trying to tell, to put this section before the first. In “Recoil, Ignite” you get Mono in battle mode. Rising, falling and yet again rising, there is this sense of tension and above everything bitterness. It is only until the ten minute mark that you might feel this, but the sinister bass line abruptly interrupted by the stingy guitars evoke the image of the hero going down, shouting for the loss of his life, failure in his eyes. So following “Surrender” is the death march – reflective and hollow trumpet included. When at the grave, a speech must be given and Mono give room for yet another idea: Inviting soulmate Tetsu Fukagawa of Envy fame to do just that. On the “Hand That Holds The Truth” they create space, for tears to be shed and memories to be reconciled, only for the words to be thrown in your face and you to be reminded that everything must die. While “The Last Rays” seems a somewhat weak ending for the whole project, the six minutes of noise really help drown out the last bit of hopefulness that was built in The Last Dawn. 

While I´m really not able to grasp the uplifting tendencies of The Last Dawn right now, I can only applaud Mono for executing their idea to the fullest. Rays of Darkness might seem to short and inconclusive at first, but thinking about it more, this might portray darkness and desolation better than anything else. After this I can only ask, “What´s Next?”

Stream the whole thing at The A.V. Club.

9 / 10