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Death in June
The Rule of Thirds

Soleilmoon Recordings

Posted: Wednesday, May 07, 2008
By: Matthew Johnson
Features Editor

A number of bands were responsible for the creation of neo-folk, but mention the genre and most people's thoughts immediately go to the gentle acoustic guitar strumming, softly crooned baritones, and flowery but brooding lyrics perfected on Death in June's seminal albums But, What Ends When Symbols Shatter? and Rose Clouds of Holocaust. For the past decade or so, Death in June founder Douglas P. has been taking a more experimental approach, inspired in part by his work with martial ambient artists like Boyd Rice and Der Blutharsch founder Albin Julius, to varying degrees of success. On his first proper studio album since 2001's All Pigs Must Die, he returns to his roots with what is perhaps the most intimate album he's ever recorded. While loops and samples are still employed, they're used far more sparingly this time around, rising up to make the occasional point, but not omnipresent to the point of overwhelming the guitar and vocals. Even compared to a classic like But, What Ends When Symbols Shatter?, this is a remarkably spare album, the cavernous reverb stripped away so that each song feels like it was performed in a cozy coffeehouse rather than a drafty cathedral. While in some ways this makes for a kinder, gentler Death in June, P.'s characteristic themes are still very much in evidence, and "Forever Loves Decay" does a particularly good job marrying comparatively sunny folk tunes to bitter lyrics. If P.'s disillusionment and disappointment with humanity are omnipresent, they're at least explored in a broader sense this time around, especially compared to All Pigs Must Die, which was essentially a hate letter to the heads of now-defunct label World Serpent Distribution. The Rule of Thirds is a far more reflective album, more nostalgic than vitriolic, as exemplified by the ruminations of "Last Europa Kiss." The music itself is less abrasive as well, the strums subdued, the voice imbued with the sort of quiet confidence that fills "Good Mourning Sun" and "Truly Be" the kind of mature dignity we haven't seen from Death in June since Rose Clouds of Holocaust. While some might write off this album's comparatively simple arrangements as a step backward after the noisy layers of such albums as Take Care and Control and Operation Hummingbird, what P. has in fact done with The Rule of Thirds is to give Death in June fans the album they've been wanting for over a decade.