MONO Announce Details For 2 New Albums & Winter 2014 Euro Tour Dates Confirmed
Japanese instrumental rock band, MONO, have unveiled details of their next release and subsequent tour. The quartet will be releasing not one, but two, albums this October, and will embark on a full European tour shortly afterwards.
You can hear a track from the first of these new MONO albums, entitled Where We Begin, below:
The albums – entitled The Last Dawn and Rays Of Darkness – were recorded simultaneously, although they are, creatively and conceptually, worlds apart. They are two sides to a story, but they remain hand in hand. Themes that have permeated MONO’s previous output are revisited through the conjoined albums: hope and hopelessness, love and loss, immense joy and unspeakable pain.
When asked why MONO were releasing two album instead of, perhaps, one longer one, Taka simply says “There were black and white sides inside of me, like darkness and hope. I felt they could not exist on the same album.”
The “light” side of this chapter in the MONO story is The Last Dawn. Noticeably more stripped back than their previous releases, the album clocks in at under forty minutes. In direct contrast, Rays Of Darkness is an altogether more ominous and brooding beast. Notable for the absence of MONO’s near-trademark orchestral instruments, this album leans heavily on the aggression of blistering riffs, jarring angles, and a doom-layered undertone. Another dynamic is added by the involvement of post-hardcore pioneer, Tetsu Fukagawa of Envy; Tetsu provides vocals, for the first time ever on a MONO recording.
The Last Dawn and Rays Of Darkness were recorded in May 2014, in Pennsylvania, USA, produced by MONO and engineered by Fred Weaver. The artwork for both albums was created by acclaimed, Michigan based, illustrator, Pat Perry.
The albums will be available via Pelagic Records on October 24th (GAS) / October 27th (UK + Rest of Europe). Pre-orders for both albums are now available for both CD and vinyl versions via the Pelagic Records webstore.
MONO European Tour:
Tuesday November 18 – PL – Warsaw,Hydrozagadka
Thursday, November 20 – BY – Minsk, Re:Public
Friday, November 21 – LV – Riga, Gertrudes Ielas Teatris
Saturday, November 22 – RU – Moscow,16 Tons
Sunday, November 23 – RU – St Petersburg, Mod
Monday, November 24 – FIN – Helsinki, Tavastia
Wednesday, November 26 – SE – Stockholm, Debaser Slussen
Thursday, November 27 – NO – Oslo, John Dee
Saturday, November 29 – DK – Copenhagen, Loppen
Sunday, November 30 – DK – Aalborg, Studenterhuset
Monday, December 01 – DE – Hamburg, Hafenklang
Tuesday, December 02 – NL – Groningen, Vera
Wednesday, December 03 – BE – Brugge, MAZ
Thursday, December 04 – NL – Haarlem, Patronaat
Saturday, December 06 – UK – Leeds, Brudenell Social Club
Sunday, December 07 – UK – Glasgow, Stereo
Monday, December 08 – IRE – Dublin, Whelans
Wednesday, December 10 – UK – London, Islington Assembly Hall
Thursday, December 11- FR – Paris, Trabendo
Saturday, December 13 – DE – Berlin, Pelagic festival
Sunday, December 14 – DE – Koln, Gebaeude9
Monday, December 15 – DE – Karlsruhe, Jubez
Tuesday, December 16 – DE – Munich, Feierwerk
Wednesday, December 17 – CZ – Prague, Podnik
Thursday December 18 – DE – Dresden, Beatpol
MONO are:
Takaakira “Taka” Goto (guitar)
Tamaki (bass, piano)
Yoda (guitar)
Yasunori Takada (drums)
http://www.facebook.com/monoofjapan
http://pelagic-records.com
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Source: Pioneer Music Press
