Posts Tagged ‘Monarch’
Album of the day: Monarch – Omens
Posted on Monday, January 23rd, 2012
Lovingly pinched from Lurker: Witchcraft, in all of its manifestations, has a strong appeal for visual and music artists given its implicit mysticism and strong lore, evoking those primal, vague memories of forests, torched wood, pale sand and shadowy creatures of the night. Man alone against Nature, attempting to explain and conjure the forces beyond him, devised all sorts of rituals and elements to portray and mimic those natural elements through drawings, rituals and music, later passed via word of mouth and written word through generations, following a tradition of power, awe and knowledge.
Tied to this tradition, women have been one of the most common elements in the pagan lore, and likewise the media representations of it. Look no further than the likes of Jinx Dawson (from Coven), or movies like Antichrist or The Blair Witch Project, which in one way or another reinforced the idea that women are most capable of channeling the mystical forces of nature, and as unforgiving as the latter is, subvert it into others, negatively or positively.
Monarch have always had an implicit element of mysticism which they owe mostly to the subgenre as a whole, but since Sabbath Noir it seems like they’ve decided to take a step further in the symbolic, ritualistic realm of witchcraft manifested visually and lyrically through their vocalist (Emilie Bresson), and shape the mournful, anguished vibe from their previous efforts into a living sonic presence, summoned by torture.
Take the spiteful bride abandoned on a rocky altar in ‘Winter Bride’ (from their album Die Tonight), the cavernous shrieks at moonlight on Sabbath Noir and the unsettling, tormented moans broken by ritualistic percussion of Sortilège, and you’ll have a mental image of what Monarch conjured in Omens.
Continue reading: Monarch – Omens | LURKER.
Tags: Album of the day, At A Loss Recordings, Emilie Bresson, Lurker, Monarch, Omens, sludge
Posted in 2012, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | No Comments »
Monarch Announce Album Details; Teaser Audio/Video Clip Posted
Posted on Thursday, January 19th, 2012
French drone / sludge collective Monarch this week confirm the details of their recently completed sixth album, Omens – the band’s first release for Maryland-based At A Loss Recordings — now confirmed for public consumption on February 28th. A thirty-four minute down-tempo / down-tuned ethereal funeral dirge comprised of three ...read more
Supersonic Festival 2011, 21 – 23 October, Birmingham UK: Envy and Barn Owl Confirmed; Supersonic Podcast Available
Posted on Friday, August 5th, 2011
Envy and Barn Owl have been confirmed for this years Supersonic Festival, set for 21 -23 October, Birmingham UK. Envy are now confirmed for this years festival line up. They have become a dominant band in the independent hardcore scene in Japan, their music, through their own evolution, encompasses a ...read more
Los Angeles Music – West Coast Sound: The Five Slowest Metal Bands
Posted on Thursday, August 4th, 2011
The words “heavy metal” to most people conjure up visions of blazing-fast guitars, rapid double-bass drumming, and whiplash-inducing headbanging. The bands below, however, are the antithesis. In fact, there’s a growing substrata of groups that are defying metal stereotypes, slowing their music to a molasses pace, incorporating slow-motion riffs, and ...read more
Album of the day: Monarch! – Sortilege (EP)
Posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
Praise for Monarch!‘s Sortilege from San Francisco’s aQuarius Records: In transit across the Pacific for months now, we had almost given up, but this grim little slab of droned out ritualistic slo-mo sludge finally showed up from Australia. Previously a tour only release from this aQ beloved female fronted French ...read more
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