The Last Dawn

The Last Dawn is the first of these two companion albums, and is the "lighter" of the two, thematically and melodically. It contains undoubtedly some of MONO's strongest songs ever, drawing on an array of influences from minimalist film score to vintage shoegaze. It is MONO at their absolute purest, executing an uncanny, unspoken dialogue with each other without the dozens of stringed instruments that have been so prominent throughout their catalog. The songs are also noticeably more efficient – there hasn't been a MONO full-length record to fit on a single slab of vinyl since 2003's One Step More And You Die – and the album benefits immeasurably from this streamlined approach. MONO have always been masters of telling compelling stories without words. But now they've proven they can do it without frills, too.

These two new albums from the longstanding Japanese instrumental outfit Mono feel like a double-LP split in half and given two names. The Last Dawn continues along the orchestral arc that 2012's For My Parents followed, while Rays of Darkness strips things down to the rock-quartet bone.

Since the release of 2004's Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined, Japan's Mono have hollowed their own cave in the mountain of post-rock.

Album review: Mono - The Last Dawn / Rays Of Darkness. Intensity has rarely felt so intimate…

A review of The Last Dawn / Rays of Darkness by Mono available October 24th in Europe via Pelagic Records and October 28th in North America Via Temporary Residence Limited.