20 Greatest Alternative Albums Of 2016

Japanese sound experimenters Mono have never put out a bad album in their fifteen-year spanning career, and on their ninth full-length release, that statement remains intact. This time, their sound takes them to a place darker than anywhere the group has ever gone before.

Requiem For Hell follows a turbulent path, one that is based around the poem The Divine Comedy. Musically, the record is an extremely noisy affair, a deliberate move to flesh out the emotional components to their zenith. It works too. While their career pinnacle Hymn To The Immortal Wind was light and airy, Requiem For Hell is dark and dense – further proof that these non-conforming musicians can achieve a multitude of moods and tones with relative ease.

But atmospherics aren't the only thing that the group have going for them, as evidenced by the scorching intensity of their musicianship. And while the record is chaotic and messy, there's always an overarching theme that unifies the whole piece.

With Requiem For Hell, Mono cement their legacy as not only one of the best instrumental bands of the present day, but one of the best bands to ever emerge from the land of the rising sun.