Drab Majesty — The Demonstration
My first introduction to Drab Majesty was their second album, The Demonstration. An album with extreme highs, and middling lows.
With the introduction of Mona D, Drab Majesty went from a solo project to the duo we know today. The Demonstration is a concept album, based around the mass-suicide of the Heaven’s Gate cult. Founded in 1974, the cult was led by Marshall Applewhite who later in life went by the name “Do” (pronounced Doe). In March of 1997, Applewhite and 38 of his followers took barbiturates and asphyxiated themselves to board a spaceship said to be traveling behind the Hale-Bopp comet. Applewhite and his then partner would often proselytize their own deaths and eventual resurrection, they referred to this event as the Demonstration.
Beginning with the instrumental “Induction,” Drab invites us into Heaven’s Gate before the song “Dot in the Sky.” This song and the following are the most blatant callouts to the Heaven’s Gate cult. The narrator of this track serenades the former members of the cult as they outline their belief system. Dark and poppy, this is a great intro to the album. This leads into ethereal “39 By Design.” A direct reference to the number of deaths which resulted from the Heaven’s Gate cult, Demure questions in this song if maybe the followers did in fact make it to their spaceship afterlife. This song is the one which got me into Drab Majesty. Demure’s subdued and droning vocals over infectious electronic drum beats… is so unique. Which is to say nothing of the dreamy guitar and sinister synth. The album first stumbles with “Not Just A Name.” Again dwelling on the religious ardor of the cult, this track confronts the leader himself from the point of view of a devotee. Thematically, this song is fine, musically it is a slog to listen to. Side A ends on an instrumental track. Side B gets the album back on track with “Too Soon to Tell.” A dreamy synth driven piece, Demure explores the recruitment techniques of the cult. “Cold Souls” is an anthemic ’80s inspired ballad. This song comes from the perspective of the “clean-up” crews during the mass suicide. The members killed themselves over three days in groups of 15, 15, and then 9. Describing the process of placing the asphyxiated corpses onto beds with a privacy cloth, this song is chilling in every sense. “Kissing the Ground” again focuses on the fervor of the devotees and examines their broken backgrounds which led them down this path. This track is also the most rock driven on the record and it works well.The vinyl ends with “Behind the Wall.” This song was interesting to revisit, as it was not one I noticed before. There are some good beats here and the music culminates much of the album’s motifs, but it falls short of outright greatness.
Must Listen To: 39 by Design
A perfect composition, “39 by Design” is a direct link to the album’s macabre origins while also functioning on its own merits.
