Death in June
The World That Summer

After the success of Nada!, the album that achieved the greatest commercial success and is still the most loved by the fans of Morte in Giugno, Douglas P. decided to give a new direction to his artistic career by refining and focusing on his aesthetic and musical conceptions, which see him increasingly becoming a sort of dark chansonnier as well as one of the leading representatives of apocalyptic folk.

The new double album The World That Summer (title taken from a book that tells the story of a young Jew during Nazism) thus further refines the folk sounds already emerged in Nada! and also marks a leap in the quality of the lyrics. The roses depicted on the cover are already a powerful symbol permeating these grooves, steeped in decadence: the rose in fact is seen in its dual meaning of love and death.

The album begins with "Blood of Winter," where the embroideries of trumpet and acoustic guitar shine in a vaguely Morriconian atmosphere. The next track, "Hidden Among the Leaves," is a piece as sharp as a knife blade that exemplifies the "Hagakure" ethic and where it is possible to hear the voice of Japanese writer Yukyo Mishima, one of Douglas P.'s greatest literary inspirations along with Jean Genet. "Torture by Roses" is instead a classic dark-folk ballad that from here on will become a sort of trademark for Death in June: the symbol of the rose is again evoked in all its decadent symbolism.

With "Come Before Christ and Murder Love", we are perhaps faced with the absolute pinnacle of the album and one of the best songs ever composed by Douglas P.: the melody is irresistible and is supported by acoustic guitar and trumpet. The album then unfolds among harsh martial ballads like "Rule Again" and "Blood Victory," where it is possible to hear the "demonic" voice of guest David Tibet from Current 93 and other classic ballads like the splendid "Break the Black Ice" and "Rocking Horse Night." The long "Death of a Man" closes this masterpiece: it is the first incursion of Death In June into martial-ambient territories, a sort of dark litany in honor of Yukyo Mishima and his ethics. The piece may be too monotonous, but it is nevertheless impossible for the listener to remain indifferent to these somber black atmospheres that envelop him in an infernal spiral.

A monumental sound fresco that, with the subsequent "Brown Book," delivers to the history of music the morbid visions and poetics of the controversial figure of Douglas P..