Collaboration between Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou.

Stemming out of an … Read Full Bio ↴Collaboration between Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou.

Stemming out of an offer from Roadburn Festival organizer Walter Hoeijmakers, mutual acquaintances, and a shared love of each other’s output, May Our Chambers Be Full is the first recorded document of collaboration between Emma Ruth Rundle and Thou. While their solo material seems on its face to be quite disparate, both groups have spent their respective careers lurking at the outer boundaries of the heavy metal scene, the artists having more in common with DIY punk and its spiritual successor, grunge.

May Our Chambers Be Full straddles a similar, very fine line both musically and thematically. While Emma Ruth Rundle’s standard fare is a blend of post-rock-infused folk music, and Thou is typically known for its downtuned, doomy sludge, the conjoining of the two artists has created a record more in the vein of the early ’90s Seattle sound and later ’90s episodes of Alternative Nation, while still retaining much of the artists’ core identities. Likewise, the lyrical content of the album is a marriage of mental trauma, existential crises, and the ecstatic tradition of the expressionist dance movement. “Excessive sorrow laughs. Excessive joy weeps.” Melodic, melancholic, heavy, visceral.

The visual art accompanying this work was created in collaboration with preeminent New Orleans photographer Craig Mulcahy. The faceless, genderless models are meant to emphasize this pervasive state of ambiguity and emotional vacillation, the images falling somewhere between modern high fashion and classical Renaissance.

Monolith
Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Perception
Colored by death
Of a loved one, of a friend

Conception
Choked at the hinge
When did this become the end?

Mercy, mercy
Kneel at the base of our monolith and pray
It's faceless grey plains choose blindness

To bet on
Anything less
To bet on your dog to win

Finicky sleight of hand
Convince the spectators that you can't
Show off hollow accomplishments

Contention
Cold sacrilege
Colder still for giving in

Mercy, mercy

Kneel at the base of our conduit and pray
It's facelеss grey plains choose blindness

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Monolith" by Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou speak to themes of perception, death, and the struggle to find meaning in the face of loss. The song opens with the idea that our perception of the world is colored by the experience of death, whether it be the death of a loved one or a friend. This death casts a shadow over our understanding of reality.

The next verse explores the concept of conception being choked at the hinge, symbolizing the frustration of a potential beginning being cut short. The singer questions when and why this became the end, suggesting a sense of confusion and despair.

The chorus pleads for mercy, urging us to kneel at the base of the monolith or conduit, symbols representing an imposing force or authority. The faceless grey plains allude to a sense of emptiness and indifference, as if choosing to be blind to human suffering.

The following lines touch on the idea of betting on something less, perhaps settling for mediocrity or accepting defeat instead of striving for greatness. The sleight of hand and hollow accomplishments represent the deceptive nature of success that lacks true substance or meaning.

The final verse introduces the concept of contention and sacrilege, indicating conflict and disrespect. The singer laments the coldness both in the act of giving in and the consequences that follow. The chorus is repeated once again, emphasizing the plea for mercy in the face of this overwhelming darkness.

Line by Line Meaning

Perception
Our understanding of reality

Colored by death
Influenced by the loss of someone dear

Of a loved one, of a friend
Whether it's the death of a loved one or a friend

Conception
The beginning of an idea or belief

Choked at the hinge
Stifled or restricted at a crucial point

When did this become the end?
At what point did this situation reach its conclusion?

Mercy, mercy
Pleading for compassion or forgiveness

Kneel at the base of our monolith and pray
Submit to the imposing structure and hope for intervention

It's faceless grey plains choose blindness
The monolith's impersonal and desolate environment prefers ignorance

To bet on
To place trust or hope in

Anything less
Any alternative option that seems inferior