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Monica Richards
InfraWarrior

The Mercyground/Elyrian Music

Posted: Friday, October 26, 2007
By: Matthew Johnson
Features Editor

It's a pity that "tour de force" has become such a hackneyed term, because there's really no phrase that better describes the enormous scope of InfraWarrior. The first solo album from Faith and the Muse's Monica Richards, it begins, intriguingly enough, with the only male voice to be included on the album: Richards' father Lloyd, making a debut of his own with a spoken description of nature personified as mother goddess, incorporating both death and rebirth. From this auspicious beginning, Richards explores both nature and femininity from multiple angles, ranging from pagan mysticism to punk activism. Much of the more spiritually-oriented material comes from a place that will be familiar to Faith and the Muse fans; "I Am Warrior" incorporates chanted goddess names and tribal drums, while "Death is the Ultimate Woman" examines the darker side of the mother goddess archetype over a serpentine flute wail. "In Answer" is more reminiscent of Faith and the Muse's most recent work, with Richards' distinctive otherworldly vocals floating over tribal electronic beats, while "Into My Own" is a thunderous goth rocker, with guitars provided by Fred "Freak" Smith, who first worked with Richards in legendary Washington, DC post-punk outfit Strange Boutique. InfraWarrior also sees appearances from Collide's kaRIN on "In Answer" and Jarboe on "Sedna," as well as Lustmord on "The Hunt" and her Faith and the Muse counterpart William Faith providing quite a bit of instrumentation on more than a few tracks. There's more to Richards than nature mysticism though, and InfraWarrior sees her reflecting on feminism, underground culture, and broader societal themes from the perspective of an artist who has been part of the counterculture since the early days of the U.S. punk scene. "Fell to Regret" takes aim at the oppression of women, past and present, as well as the commercially co-opted aspects of alternative culture, all to a brooding violin-laced trip-hop rhythm. "We Are the One" reinterprets a song by The Avengers as irresistible guitar-backed electro, while "Like Animals" is reminiscent of nothing so much as Chumbawamba's pre-Tubthumper a capella punk, but with the original 1967 Dr. Dolittle and the animal rights movement standing in for old union anthems and English anarchy. After the all the fury of vengeful earth goddesses and punk rock fairy godmothers, Richards ends on "A Good Thing," a tender, touching ethereal piece laced with subtle electronics and dedicated to Richards' younger self, and by extension, every strange child, misfit, and future goth/punk. It's fitting that she ends an album that so broadly embraces the multiple aspects of her world-view with a song dedicated to the people who make up much of her audience, and it's a somehow comforting conclusion to an album that, despite its haunting beauty, simmers with righteous anger.