Death in June has been the main musical vehicle of UK musician Douglas Pearce since the bands formation in 1981. While the earliest material from the band was in a post punk vein similar to Joy Division, by the late 80’s (along with Current 93 and Sol Invictus) Death in June began creating music of an entirely different variety. Around this time the term neo folk arose to describe such music as DiJ’s, and while the band has explored different musical avenues since these early days it seems Douglas has always returned to a folk related style in the end.
It’s often been hard for me to pick a favorite DiJ release since many of them are of sublime quality, but at least for me, ‘Rose Clouds of Holocaust’ has always stuck out either because it was the first one I bought or simply because several of the songs on the album are among my favorites from the band.
Released in 1995, RCoH was DiJ’s last neo folk related album released in the 90’s before taken on a more experimental approach for the remainder of the decade. The sound of this album although simplistic is very effective. Basically consisting of slow acoustic guitars, highly atmospheric keyboards and Douglas’ lead vocals with the occasional extra instrument here and there is what this album represents.
At least for me I’ve always found the music to be highly emotional, at the onset of the album it sounds joyful to my ears, but as the album progresses and nears its end the music seems to move towards a depressing and very grave direction. It’s also quite remarkable how catchy these tunes are even though the lyrics are a bit askew and seem to be very personal in their qualities.
I first heard this album a little over seven years ago and still to this day it remains one of my favorite neo folk releases as well as my favorite Death in June release. Never once has it lost its effectiveness or become boring for me either. Truly a masterpiece and a must hear within this genre.
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