Album Rating: 3.5

fair enough. fwiw i thought recoil ignite sounded a lot like godspeed's recent stuff. i got strong mladic vibes from this track. i do like it a lot.

i don't particularly like any tracks on here much myself, but that doesn't make it one of the shittiest albums i've ever heard. the compositions are good as per usual. very harmless stuff imo

Album Rating: 3.5

"Legend" is it for me. it's all i need from this album but i love it.

Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off

i don't particularly like any tracks on here much myself,

Album Rating: 3.0 Good

lol noctus come on, there's more to rating albums than that. like, there are albums i've given 2/5 to but i think some songs on them are amazingly good. in this case, there are some good moments here but many boring ones too, so it levels out at a 3 (slightly above average). if that statement was paired with a 4 then it would have validity

Album Rating: 4.5

Come at me with my 4.5 joe bro.

Album Rating: 2.0 | Sound Off

yeah, i know there's more to a rating than that, but how can you call an album you don't like any of the tracks on 'good'



well in any case, you can rate things however you like, and i'll do the same

Album Rating: 3.0

SOMEWHERE OVER THE.... wait no it's not that song.



Not a fan of Legend, but Dream Odyssey is pretty awesome. Glad they choose that song for their last tour. Can't wait for the new ones.

Album Rating: 3.5

haha i hear that too.

Album Rating: 3.5

the last dawn has leaked. very nice but very understated for a mono album. doesn't go for the big crescendoes at all. nor is it all that romantic/nostalgic. does sound nice and flow really well though. sounds more in line with other post-rock bands rather than mono's usual epic ambitions. 3.5 for now.

Album Rating: 2.5

The Last Dawn doesn't sound like it's even trying very hard, which is kind of disappointing since Where We Begin was actually my favourite out of the two early release tracks. But I'd still say it's good overall, and a step above For My Parents for sure. The classical influences don't sound as corny as on FMP or even HTTIW, so they've succeeded there in my opinion. Expecting that Rays of Darkness will be a better album overall, but will try to keep my expectations lower than they previously were (since I was expecting more from TLD than what I received, as well).

Album Rating: 2.5

These are just my opinions after a couple of listens, mind you. Will be spinning it again soon, for sure.

Album Rating: 3.5

i only heard one instance of orchestral strings in one of the tracks i thought. though i wasnt exactly listening out for them deliberately. i really enjoy it. it doesnt have ANY of the standout tracks or moments that most of the previous albums have. really subdued. pretty consistently flat as far as dynamics go, which is totally unlike mono. it's hard to articulate what i like about it when there's no standouts and i have plenty of complaints. i hate the cold metallic reverb they started using on FMP and thats still here but even worse perhaps. i dont know if thats the boss RV-3/RV-5s that they use, and if theyve always been a mainstay of their pedalboard or not. either way i found the reverb to be lovely and smooth on hymn. i guess they were going for a brighter sound here so it makes sense in a way. also the distorted guitar melody that comes in the right channel at the beginning of track 1 is horrible. way too much distortion.



but i really liked my first listen because of how quickly i fell into visualising vistas while listening to it. doesnt happen with a lot of music so when it does i really appreciate it. the album sounded like walking through a forest to me (i have synesthesia so dont know if that has anything to do with it).



cant wait for the next album. gonna have a lot more dynamics im sure. i already love recoil, ignite. and just in case anyone wasn't aware, the clip theyve shared of that song isnt the full song. theres a big crescendo that happens before it even gets to the part theyve shared, if i remember rightly from seeing them at arctangent. cant wait.

Album Rating: 2.5

Was that the fourth track? It's the most For My Parents sounding track for sure, and though it's not one of my favourites I feel like the album as a whole has variety and that could be considered a good thing. Some tracks sound like stuff they've done in the past on other particular albums and some tracks are very new sounding, but it tries different things from track to track for sure. Where We Begin is still the stand out track to me, but I also particularly liked Cyclone. What are the stand out tracks for you?



I'm also anticipating the studio version of the full Recoil:Ignite. Interesting how they released the second half as the snippet, so I feel like we've already got the best bits, but it will be awesome to hear it as a whole and not just in a live video (or live as in your case, which actually would've been more awesome than the studio version...).

Album Rating: 3.5

yeah cyclone is absolutely the standout for me. love that melody that comes in near the beginning that hovers around the same note. its lovely.

Album Rating: 3.5

the last dawn album is growing on me so much. its the most down to earth mono has ever sounded, if you know what i mean? it isnt grandiose or bombastic or anything. its almost a little ameteurish, but in a really good way. rough around the edges but really honest -- the complete opposite of for my parents. i get a tiny bit of gy!be vibe from it. their albums were never completely polished and clinical, and it helped to make you feel like you're in the room with the music. so i get that from the last dawn. very pleased.

Album Rating: 3.5

ive heard rays of darkness. fuck. forget everything you thought you knew about mono.

Album Rating: 2.5

Rays of Darkness is good but why is it so short? It's EP length by post-rock standards. Literally every track on it is good but at 36 minutes it's super unsatisfying. I'm just left thinking, where are tracks 5 and 6? If there were a track or two more it could've been a really fleshed out, fantastic record but instead we're left with what feels like a missed opportunity. Part of me feels like they literally did the bare minimum to try and satisfy older fans with this release...

Album Rating: 3.5

if i was to judge each album as its own entity id maybe say the same. but taken all together they have put out an hour and a half's worth of music.



either way, rays of darkness was amazing on first listen but i haven't wanted to go back to it. tracks 2 and 4 are an awesome experience first time; even hypnotic. but once you know what they're about, i found i dont get anything from it anymore. and the vocals on track 3 don't work at all unless you are in a position to play it really loud in headphones.



as a whole i love the project and there's so much content there. but taken individually as "albums", they don't stack up to mono's best work.

Album Rating: 2.5

Yeah I respect that they put out a lot this year but you can understand how as an 'album guy' Rays of Darkness sort of rubs me the wrong way. I mean, the noise/drone track at the end is awesome but it'd just make so much more sense after at least 4 or 5 other tracks, not 3.



I basically feel like they did an injustice to four great tracks by not making a proper album out of them. I've gone back to the album twice since the first listen and I definitely still feel this way. But hey, I can only sit around complaining about a collection of good songs for so long...