Monolithe - 'Sentience Amidst The Lights' (official audio)

While I wander the streets alone
Seeking for something I cannot name
My soul is drowned in reflection
A flood of secrets I can’t recall

Still yearning for an aim to live
Beyond these walls beats a heart I need
The shadow from my dreams dwells here
A chance to give and to receive

Amidst the red neon lights
I stroll through the dark city
Black alleys and wet sidewalks
Ghostly figure in the sludge
Stepping in an old failed world

The heat melts the pavement
The moon shines like a street lamp
All I can think of are those...
...Dark hair and eyes

Pull from a distant memory
A search for purpose I can't deny
Past frail buildings reaching the sky
Reverie beyond what I can see

Το μακρινό 1997 δημιουργήθηκαν στην Γαλλία οι Anthemon. Gothic / doom metal Μπάντα, η οποία έμεινε ενεργή για μία δεκαετία καθώς διαλύθηκε τον Σεπτέμβριο του 2007 έχοντας κυκλοφορήσει ένα demo, ένα ep και τρεις "ολοκληρωμένους" δίσκους.

(Μάλιστα την περίοδο που διαλύθηκαν οι Anthemon εργαζόταν πάνω στο νέο τους πόνημα "Alois", το οποίο δεν κυκλοφόρησε ποτέ. Μία πρώτη εικόνα για το πως θα ηχούσε παίρνουμε από το demo "The Aloïs Demos" που "βγήκε" έξι χρόνια μετά την διάλυση του συγκροτήματος, το 2013.)

Ο εκ των κιθαριστών των Anthemon, Sylvain Bégot, είχε δημιουργήσει από το 2001, ως side project, τους Monolithe που έγιναν στην πορεία το "κανονικό" του συγκρότημα. Από τους Monolithe πέρασαν δύο ακόμη μέλη των Anthemon, ο Sébastien Latour και ο Marc Canlers.

Οι Monolithe είναι ένα doom metal συγκρότημα, ενώ δεν απουσιάζουν (και) τα death metal φωνητικά. Έχουν κυκλοφορήσει δέκα full length albums (συν δύο EPs, ένα live album, δύο συλλογές, ένα boxed set και πέντε singles). Το πλέον πρόσφατο φέρει τον τίτλο "Black Hole District" και κυκλοφόρησε προ ημερών (15 Νοεμβρίου 2024) σε CD, σε βινύλιο και σε ψηφιακή μορφή μέσω της δισκογραφικής εταιρείας Hammerheart Records.

Ακούμε τους Sylvain Bégot (κιθάρα, πλήκτρα), Benoît Blin (κιθάρα), Thibault Faucher (τύμπανα) και Quentin Verdier (φωνητικά, κιθάρα), ενώ συμμετέχουν και οι Frédéric Gervais (φωνητικά), Olivier Defives (μπάσο). Οι Monolithe αναφέρονται στο νέο τους πόνημα και μας το αναλύουν τόσο σε μουσικό, όσο και σε στιχουργικό επίπεδο...

Album concept: «Black Hole District is a story in a Tech-Noir style, inspired by Blade Runner, but also Dark City, Matrix, Ghost in The Shell, as well as “hard boiled” literature. The narrator lives in a decaying city, in a dystopian future.

The moon has left its orbit and is coming dangerously close to Earth, causing increasingly violent cataclysms (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.). Humans now live at night because it is too hot during daytime. This narrator is disturbed by recurring dreams in which a woman with long black hair speaks to him.

However, he doesn’t remember who she is. He decides to investigate to find her. He ends up reaching a forbidden part of the city, called “Black Hole District”. He enters a building which is actually an android factory. He then realizes that the faces of the inert and aligned androids being manufactured, are all the same...

And identical to his own. His break-in causes an alarm during which he, through the confusion, sees the woman of his dreams among the employees.

He flees and tries to leave the city, pursued by a militia charged with “removing” him; Because androids that have become “sentient” and can think for themselves are considered defective and dangerous. As he reaches the city limits, he gets fatally shot. At the same time, the city begins to disintegrate, due to the Moon’s increasing proximity.»

The Music: «Black Hole District is part of the band’s evolutionary logic since their beginnings: progression in continuity. If Monolithe’s musical style remains identifiable, new influences and musical desires enrich each new album.

This is the case with BHD, which drew on the aesthetics of the 1970s and 1980s, especially in terms of synthesizers, in particular with the use of the famous CS-80 synth popularized by Vangelis, and the appeal of soundtracks of science fiction films.

The album is also designed as a movie would be, with a scenario, an atmosphere, a central character whose train of thoughts is provided to the listener through narrations in a “hard boiled” detective style. Eager to offer original music, Monolithe does not hesitate to break the rules of its primary genre, Doom Metal, while preserving its substantial marrow and roots.»