Celebrating a sweet sixteen years making music, Symphonies Of Pain is a best of collection from Mono Inc. courtesy of Oblivion/SPV. The double album comes with both singles and favourite album tracks that wholly embody the gothic rhetoric that the band so brilliantly envision.
Spanning the entire sixteen years, line-up changes and all (Miky Mono was replaced by then drummer/songwriter Martin Engler on vocals and Katha Mia took up the throne of kicks and hits) that comprises the bands official history this best of release is an excellent place to jump aboard a ship that will pull your head from beneath the water. If you’ve already been sunk to the depths of the dark and arcane then it’s also a great place to catch up with one of Germanys’ premiere goth acts.
When there’s an extensive catalogue of moving and thoughtful songs it can seem overwhelming finding out where to begin. Knowing this the band previously released The Clock Ticks On that also featured an acoustic set as it’s complimenting second CD. Symphonies of Pain is an update and further details the path the band has progressed down.
Without their successful hits Burn Me and Sleeping My Day Away that gained them popularity as reflected by the DAC it’s not quite at the point of retrospective but instead offers a hefty taster of the content that Mono Inc. have tirelessly crafted. Pushing the realm of Gothic Rock enchanted with Synthwave further through the alternative scene on the continent. Hopefully this will get them greater attention worldwide.
This two disc collection may seem incomplete but how could it possibly be a finalized best-of when the band are still traveling their dark routes towards the Voices of Doom? Mono Inc. might sound like Böhse Onkelz covering Billy Idol but that may be why they have endeared and endured to so many and for so long.
8/10
