Mono... or Will It Ever Be the Way It Used to Be

It’s 1998 and nearly two years have passed since the release of Pyogenesis’ shocking third full-length Unpop, an album that saw the German band perform a catastrophic stylistic U-turn, abandoning their death/doom/gothic roots in favour of a rather shallow blend of alternative rock and pop-punk. Released in November 1998, Pyogenesis’ follow-up record Mono is unfortunately more of the same, as the band led by Flo Schwarz and Tim Eiermann continue to churn out insipid 3-minute punk songs without the slightest sign of nostalgia for their metallic origins.

In fact, Mono is on balance worse than Unpop. That album had at least two redeeming qualities: it retained a healthy dose of energy that made the music sound genuine, spontaneous and fun. Moreover, it had a handful of songs that were actually pretty good, either because they were damn catchy or because they were experimental and interesting. Both aspects are almost entirely gone in Mono. There is a pervading sense of sedation running through the album’s 13 songs, with very few episodes that piqued my interest. “Just Ironic” is a 4-chord tune containing a moderately catchy melody that makes it memorable. “I Remember” is cut from a similar cloth, while “Would You Take” is perhaps the song that stands out the most thanks to its mellow, gothic undertones that emerge in its sweetly melancholic verses and chorus. The cover of Toto’s “Africa” is also remarkable because it is the only track that sounds different from the others, with hints of electronica and its strange but interesting marriage of punk and AOR. All the remaining songs are run-of-the-mill pop-punk that are forgotten the instant the CD player skips to the next track.

Among the positives, Mono is much better produced than the raw and noisy Unpop. The hand of renowned engineer Siggi Bemm can be heard in the album’s clean sound and in how clearly each instrument cuts through the mix. The playing is also better (or perhaps, it’s simply easier to appreciate it thanks to the improved production): there is more nuance in the way the various instruments are arranged, from the melodic bass lines to the guitar riffs and arpeggios. The drums, alas, continue to play dead straight to the beat, in perfect punk style. It’s a pity that the enhanced sonic clarity is not matched by a better, more diverse and interesting songwriting. Instead, Mono plods away inoffensively for most of its duration, eliciting yawns from the audience more than anything else, and suggesting a band at the end of their tethers as far as inspiration goes. It’s no coincidence that one of the two band’s leaders, Tim Eiermann, will quit after this record to seek fortune with a new rock band, Liquido.

In sum, this one is only for hardcore completionists/collectors. Everyone else who wishes to check Pyogenesis’ “punk-pop period” is better advised to turn either to Unpop or to the greatest hits P, which the band released in 2000 and that collates in one place the best material from Mono and Unpop.