Death in June is a neofolk group that was originally formed in the UK in 1981 whose only consistent member has been co-founder Douglas Pierce. I’ve never listened to neofolk before, at least that I’m aware of, but the genre is sometimes known as apocalyptic folk. This album was in my Apple Music suggestions after listening to the Current 93 album, Dogs Blood Rising (1984), recently, which was one of the most dark and interesting albums I’ve heard so far. This album, The Wall of Sacrifice (1989), is Death in June’s fifth studio album. I’m pretty excited to give this one a listen, so with that said, I’m going to jump on into the music.
“The Wall of Sacrifice” begins with a symphony of what sound to be church bells that almost have an old gothic sort of quality. Holy smokes, some deep bass notes from a piano come into the soundscape with a repetitive darkness that has really caught my attention. There’s a bit of a marching style drum that begins to wade into the symphony of bells and piano. Oh wow, some vocals come in and begin saying a line over and over, sometimes with additional layers of vocals, which have a cult-like presence in the soundscape. Holy smokes, some horns come in that sound like they’re from the start of a horse race. Oh wow, more vocal layers come in that sound like they’re pulled from a mixture of channels from an old television.
I’m reminded a lot of the Current 93 album that I listened to recently, Dogs Blood Rising (1984), though the overall sound is not necessarily as overtly industrial, but there is a very interesting cacophony of vocal samples and instrumentation that almost sound sinister in nature. It’s something akin to watching a horror film, with a lot of the same elements you might hear in the score to a horror film. I’m kind of reminded of “Revolution 9” from The Beatles, but the experience isn’t necessarily as intense, but there’s still a certain discomfort at times while listening; I’m really enjoying the song so far. Oh wow, it sounds like there’s some old Russian folk chanting in the track now, almost as if the music is bringing you further into out in the overall listening experience.
The ambiance of the song has almost shifted into a sort of War of the Worlds territory with the different vocal layers mixed with deep bass synths, marching drums, and sounds that you might associate with wartime, especially WWI and WWII. I’m really digging this song so far. Oh wow, the track begins to wind down and the bass piano begins fading back more into focus – it’s been present at different times in the song, but it has a nice feeling of resolution as it comes into view this time around. Wow, super sweet track and I’m excited to hear more.
Holy smokes, “Giddy Giddy Carousel” begins with a smooth segue in from the previous track with a big bass drum. Oh wow, the sweet acoustic guitar brings in a ton of folksy flavor that contrasts a ton with the previous track. The vocals in the track are also sung by a male vocalist with a sort of somewhat droning, folksy tone, and a female vocalist whose vocals have a really bright, sweet, light, and pleasant reverb that make her voice sound like a shining light in a large church hall. Wow, great track.
“Heilige Leben” begins with some interesting synths/organs that have a sort of vaporwave quality that I’m really digging. Oh wow, the female vocalist’s voice has that really light, sort of bright church hall reverberation to it again. Holy smokes, the vocals seem to gradually trail off into the distance in almost eerie fashion as the vaporwave-esque tones of the synth/organs continue playing on. Wow, super sweet track.
Holy smokes, “Fall Apart” begins with an eerie, sort of dark industrial, nearly grating sound at the beginning, which soon gives way to an acoustic guitar chord progression and some quite vocals that create a quite dark, folksy soundscape when combined. Oh wow, I really dig this one. Great track.
“Bring In the Night” gradually fades in with some deep, distant bass drums, and some industrial drones that make the song sound like it’s introducing an apocalyptic scene pulled from one of the Terminator movies. Oh wow, there’s a narration of vocals that mirror these dark, apocalyptic, industrial sounds in the background. Oh wow, a female vocalist comes into the soundscape, and brings a really interesting sweetness that almost makes the musical landscape somehow more apocalyptic. Wow, great track.
“In Sacrilege” begins with some super sweet, folksy acoustic guitars that quickly fill up the sonic space of the song, and in a dark manner somewhat reminiscent of Tim Buckley’s Lorca (1970). Oh wow, the vocals come in with a nearly guttural sound as the vocal cords of the singer seem strained with passion. The lyrics definitely bring that apocalyptic flavor to this track, which is furthered by the dark intonation of the instrumentation. Super sweet tune.
Oh wow, “Hullo Angel” starts out with some somewhat distant, deep, reverberated vocals and an acoustic guitar that remind me a lot of Skip Spence’s album, Oar (1969). Oh wow, some really interesting synth/organ effects seem to wave throughout the soundscape. Super sweet tune.
“Death Is a Drummer” fades in with an ominous wave of reverberated vocals that sound as though they were recorded in an old gothic European church. Holy smokes, a deep, bassy, churning sort of industrial and experimental sound begins to permeate throughout the soundscape. This track is super interesting so far. The deep, churning bass effects have a really ominous sound, which is as though you’re deep underwater and cold water is rushing around your head. Holy smokes, a recording of an old orchestra plays distantly on the right side of the soundscape for a moment. Oh wow, some of the effects from the first track are gradually fading in and out of the soundscape. It’s almost as if someone took the recording of the first track and decided to play it underwater, with only the parts with the highest treble being the ones that stand out amongst the waves of churning bass. Oh wow, the wave of vocals from the beginning of the track appear again as the track is coming to an end. Wow, great track.
“Heilige Tod” begins with a smooth segue of vocals in from the previous track, which have a really ominous quality to them as they wrap together the album. Super interesting track, and a really sweet way to finish the album.
Holy smokes, this album was incredibly interesting. This album was sort of along the lines of the Current 93 album I’ve mentioned a few times in this write-up in the overall dark, ominous, and eerie quality. Though the album was definitely dark and apocalyptic, it wasn’t as necessarily religious as the aforementioned Current 93 album, Dogs Blood Rising (1984). The dark yet somewhat sweet folk elements throughout also served as a really interesting contrast to the symphonies of the dark experimental and industrial sounds. If you’re into dark music, especially experimental or industrial in nature, you might want to consider checking out this album. If you do decide to give this album a listen, I sincerely do hope that you enjoy the experience at least as much as I did.
-A