There’s certainly no shortage of music, especially within the world of metal, that delves into the philosophical questions of death. In particular, when it comes to doom metal you would be hard pushed to find a band that doesn’t spend a solid 15 minutes and two notes pondering the afterlife. Of course, trying to find a band that does so while creating emotionally resonant music that revels in the grandeur of death’s monstrosity and understands the importance of embracing the inevitable is a tad bit harder.
Enter Monovoth, an Argentinian one-man doom/drone band created by Lucas Wyssbrod (MΩSTRO, Golden Cannibal, Blvgth). Monovoth is set to release his second full-length, Pleroma Mortem Est on February 16, 2024, through Trepanation Recordings and we have the privilege of premiering this wonderful, mostly instrumental, exploration of the end of life!
Through the description of the album, written by Argentinian musician, composer and writer, Bernardo Stinco, we can glean further insight into the concept of Pleroma Mortem Est;
‘An homage to death in all its solemnity. A guide, a beacon that illuminates the diverse stages of this inexorable path: the embrace, the close contemplation of its face, the sonic echo of its presence, the instrument of fate that summoned it, the emotions it arouses in its dark awakening, and, finally, the acceptance of the end itself.’
On Pleroma Mortem Est, Wyssbrod takes his time exploring heaviness, both conceptually and musically, and does so over nearly 40 minutes of plodding doom and ambient drone tracks. Throughout the album thick, ethereal atmospheres wrap around the listener like a shroud before giving way to sorrowful and crushing moments that are reflective of our trudging onward towards death’s cold embrace.
If anything, Monovoth’s new album is Wyssbrod’s attempt to create a soundtrack to the inevitable end to all our journeys that is both melodiously soothing while also crushingly anguish ridden. He creates space to let death’s desolation stand alongside the joy of acceptance and in doing so has created an album that is varied in the imagery that it conjures.
Pleroma Mortem Est is out on February 16, 2024, via Trepanation Recordings. Be sure to check out Monovoth’s Facebook and Instagram pages for future updates. If you enjoyed the premiere above, pre-order the album through Monovoth‘s Bandcamp.
