11 days in to this accursed month already? time then to drag myself back to the critical coalface to hew out my latest offering to the weary Gods of ears.
It’s cold and grey out there, so I have chosen some appropriately cold music to vibe on today; The Mon Doppelleben.
The Mon, derived from ‘demon’, is the name that Ufomammut* bassist and vocalist Urlo releases his occasional synth-based offerings under**, 2018’s Doppelleben (which translates as ‘dual life’ from German) being his debut.
As you might expect from one third of the Malleus art collective Doppelleben is a luxurious rather beautifully packaged LP. Heavyweight card, metallic inlays, a book of sinister photos of various flora, looking decidedly Venusian in part, to illustrate each track, it all massively compliments the music’s own aesthetic. Black/Red/Sinister/Clear.
Urlo plays every note on this album, it isn’t clear to these tired old ears whether every note is synthesized, or whether some of those bass or guitar scraping is ‘real’; none of that matters of course.
The tracks throb, slide, stalk and spike in a decidedly icy fashion that snaps me back to wind-formed icicles on barbed wire fences in my childhood, the cold burning hot through my mittens. At its very best, ‘Her’, with its muttered vocals we feel the liquid nitrogen freeze of Pink Floyd at their most cynical; impassable check-points of the conscience and deliciously harsh white light against the bleakest of barriers.
That ‘Her’ leads directly to the closing and title track is a gorgeous bit of programming. A tiny, almost hopeful keyboard refrain struggles to be heard against a sinister overarching wash of sinister moodiness, which will surely snuff it out, except that it doesn’t and the LP ends almost on a note of optimism. It’s a beauty.
Elsewhere on Doppelleben we have the skeletal beat of ‘Blut’, with more incoherently whispered vocals which could almost pass for rock if you squint at it right. I am rather a fan of the steadily mounting anxiety of ‘Salvator Mundi’ and the slow crawlburn of ‘Hate One I Hate’, which ends a touch like Sunn O))) playing in the studio next door.
I shan’t slay the magic by dissecting the beast in front of you, The Mon Doppelleben is a great fit for this time of year. It is a really impressive LP but there are times that I yearn for the crushing heaviness of Urlo’s main band to let themselves through the airlock, which they almost do on the sci-fi adjacent ‘Relics’.
I find this album a real treat, genuine cold comfort and I commend it to you to soundtrack your next space voyage.
1302 Down.
PS: More bleak landscapes anyone?
*big 1537 faves, check out Oro: Opus Primum and Oro: Opus Alter which are both utterly brilliant.
**to be totally honest I had no idea until today that there were more than this.
This is excellent, both music and art. As you say, it almost slides into stoner rock vibes a couple of times but still with that chillness. Brilliant stuff, thanks for highlighting it!
Really pleased you dig this chilly treat, it made me listen to Ufomammut again too, which is no bad thing.
That’s a bit ‘out there’ but I like it.
Ace! I like a bit of chilly music.
Enjoyed this, Joe. As you say, very January (Northern Hemisphere Edition).