Creatures of the night probably miss the 80s of the last century badly. Post-punk and New Wave reached glorious heights and their epic explorations of mixing hard guitars and driving electronics dominated alternative dance floors. Names like SISTERS OF MERCY, FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM, DEPECHE MODE, JOY DIVISION, THE HUMAN LEAGUE, ULTRAVOX and others still have a magic ring to them.
The subtle eroticism, the electric excitement, and dark musical pleasure, it is all gone, many nocturnal prowlers sigh – both, those who have lived through this past and long for it but also the ones who were born too late and wish themselves back into a nostalgically glorified era. Fear not! SOROR DOLOROSA come flying to the rescue on black wings. Their fourth album “Mond” has musical fangs that draw delicious sonic blood on the first listening experience.
Hear it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIrZqJUin20
The classic dark post-punk and wave elements are all there, and so is the overwhelming enticement to let your feet move in an ecstatic dance under the eponymous moon. Yet SOROR DOLOROSA are no peddlers of stale snake oil nostalgia. The French band has updated the classic feel with a massive sound fitting for the new millennium. Mix and mastering of “Mond” have been successfully entrusted to PERTURBATOR mastermind James Kent, who has polished this epic album with a lush vibrant power and ethereal coldness.
The remaining founding members, vocalist Andy Julia and bass player Hervé Carles have meanwhile welcomed guitarist Jean-Baptiste Marquet to their fold. It is likely that his fresh contributions as a composer and arranger have had an influence in the strong dance grooves that permeate “Mond”. These are audibly more prominent than on the previous albums “Blind Scenes” (2011), “No More Heroes” (2013), and “Apollo” (2017).
Lyrically, SOROR DOLOROSA remain firmly on the path they have wandered from the start, when the band was originally founded in Toulouse in 2001 and finally emerged with the “Severance” EP in 2009. Their inspiration has again come in part from poets and writers such as William Blake and Edgar Alan Poe. The romantic and cathartic emotional landscapes are still at the heart of the band.
With “Mond”, SOROR DOLOROSA are reaching far out of the solar sphere and into deep outer space where the musical past and future become entwined to create an exciting new chapter in the band’s evolution.
Band:
Soror Dolorosa
Album title: Mond
Release date: October 4, 2024
Style: Post-Punk Gothic Rock
Label: Prophecy Productions
Review Impact Date: September 9, 2024
Tracklist
1. Tear It Up
2. You’re Giving Me
3. Red Love
4. Souls Collide
5. Sugar Moon
6. Broken Love
7. Obsidian Museum
8. Hurlevent
9. But Today
SOROR DOLOROSA comment: “Our first single ‘Tear It up’ is also the opening track of the new album”, mastermind Andy Julia explains. “This magic song was composed in a one take. Inspired by Jean-Baptiste Marquet’s composition, the lyrics just appeared all of a sudden in one session. This also marks Jean-Baptiste’s entry as a composer into the band as he had joined us after the release of ‘Apollo’ in 2018. The lyrics revolve around the acceptance of childhood traumata, and the transcendence that we can reach from this – if we dare to face them. ‘Tear It Up’ was the obvious choice for a first single and video clip taken from ‘Mond’. When we asked Mathilde, the actress in the video, she declared that this song was made for her. We had an unforgettable experience playing at La Maison des Choeurs in Montpellier in October 2023. This made it an easy decision for us to return to the place in order to shoot the ‘Tear It Up’ video in this wonderful 17th century neo-classical church.”
Guest contributions
Nicolas Horvath – piano on ‘Broken Love’
James Kent – arrangements on all songs
Joris Brunet – additional arrangements
Recorded by Soror Solorosa at home studio, Paris (FR)
Mixing by James Kent at Perturbator home studio, Paris (FR)
Mastering by James Kent at Perturbator home studio, Paris (FR)
Cover artwork by Andy Julia
Layout by Hannah Hassouly & Andy Julia
Available formats
“Mond” is available as a 36-page hardcover 2CD artbook (incl. 5-track bonus CD “Aurora”), as a ltd. gold vinyl LP, and as a black vinyl LP.
Shop: http://lnk.spkr.media/soror-dolorosa-mond
FB: https://www.facebook.com/sorordolorosaofficial
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/sorordolorosa/
Booking contact
mathilde.araya@gmail.com
Press contactWorldwide (except USA & Canada)
Gunnar Sauermann gunnar@spkr.media
North America
Austin Griswold austin@secretservicepr.com
