Mono - Hymn to the Immortal Wind
Rating
RIYL
Explosions in the SkyMogwai
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Sigur Ros
Release Date
03/24/2009
Label
Temporary ResidenceTracklist
1 Ashes in the Snow2 Burial at Sea
3 Silent Fight, Sleeping Dawn
4 Pure as Snow (Trails of the Winter Storm)
5 Follow the Map
6 The Battle to Heaven
7 Everlasting Light
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Mono have come a long way from their early heavily Mogwai-influenced albums. Carving out their own niche among the post-rock legionaries, they've grown in scope and direction, expanding to have a sound that could best be described as more post-classical than post-rock - because these four Japanese post-rockers make as much noise as an orchestra multiples their size.
Further adding to that thought and bolstering their sound even more, this time around the band are accompanied by a an actual full-scale orchestra, and not only is Hymn to the Immortal Wind their most 'classical' release yet, it's also their most grandiose. Opening with what is up there as one of their finest songs, "Ashes in the Snow" is a lengthy piece beginning with their Explosion in the Sky-like sparkling guitars, but the song gradually builds up to what may be one of the most potent and poignant pieces of music they've committed to tape. As an orgasmic orchestral crescendo climaxes and explodes in a flurry of swooping strings and a forcefield of guitars, drummer Yasunori Takada expands the drama of the finale of the song by repeatedly thumping his tubs and cymbals with a violent fury. The power that reverberates from your speakers is truly moving.
As usual on a Mono release, there are a couple of shorter songs that break up the record. “Silent Flight, Sleeping Dawn” is more of a straight-forward neo-classical piece, while “Follow the Map” is a pretty and twinkly glockenspiel lullaby, but these have been done before, and the orchestra unfortunately seems to overshadow both ditties.
It could be argued that Mono don't write songs; they construct movements – both in literal and emotional terms. This thought is encapsulated in both “Pure as Snow (Trails of the Winter Storm)” and the theatrical album finale “Everlasting Light”, because both conjure up a feeling of what I can only describe as the sound of being strapped to a jet engine powered solely by guitars and sheer beauty. It's truly mystifying as to how they can create such a forceful and moving noise.
While Hymn To The Immortal Wind is their longest album to date, clocking in a few minutes shy of 70, it's also their shortest in new ideas, and anyone expecting a drastic shift in sound is going to be sorely disappointed. While there's no startling sforzandos as previously found in “Yearning”, “Haylcon (Beautiful Days)” and “Com (?)”, Mono have done everything else you expected them to do, and ultimately this album does come out sounding like You Are There: Part 2, but depending upon your stance that may or may not be a good thing. Post-rock detractors will surely fault them for their stagnancy and failure in pushing the proverbial post-rock barriers, but if the band are stagnant, they're at least still beautifully stagnant. Mono have found their niche and are going to stick to it whether people like it or not.
--Rich Taylor
Comments
PA
To me this is their best material to date. Fantastic post rock album. 4 out of 5.
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
Minnesota
Same here. Took me a listen or two to really appreciate the album, but it's very solid.
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VT
There's nothing on this album that I've really grabbed a hold of and remembered, but I get that tingly feeling inside every time I play through the album. I thought there was more formula on this album that any other of their releases. And "Pure as Snow" is a bangin' track from front to back.
My Top Songs of '09
The Appleseed Cast//as the little things go
Caspian//sycamore
Sunwrae//Chinook Winds
Dredg//down to the seller
If These Trees Could Talk//the sun is in the north
From Monument to Masses//an ounce of prevention
Straylight Run//i'm through with the past
LpShinobi's Post-Rock and Shoegazing Recommendation, via YouTube
Lpshinobi's Post-Rock Band, New Song Posted
Reading/Portsmouth, Eng
Easily my favourite band ever.
Saw them on Thursday and they were STAGGERING.
St. Louis, MO
Hmm... I feel the score is appropriate, but I would take issue with a few points in the review—mainly that you didn't seem to take their collaboration with World's End Girlfriend (which, properly speaking, is the last album they released) into account. Still some nice points.
~Tom
The Silent Ballet: The very best in instrumental and post-rock reviews and coverage.
Los Angeles
i think this album is good, but it's just mono doing what mono does - beautiful music but pretty much by the books (a book which they've had a big hand in writing btw.)
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