photos by Francesca De Franceschi Manzoni
“This one feels like a Monster Magnet cut…” – Metal Injection
Metal Injection today premieres a video for “Mayhem,” the new single from THE MON – the solo project of Urlo, vocalist/bassist of Italian heavy-psychedelic trio Ufomammut, co-founder of the renowned poster art collective Malleus Rock Art Lab, and of the independent label Supernatural Cat. The song marks the latest preview of his upcoming Songs Of Abandon LP.
THE MON’s double-album Embrace The Abandon is structured in two complementary chapters – Songs Of Abandon and Songs Of Embrace – the project depicting a journey of duality: loss and surrender on one side, acceptance and rebirth on the other. The first chapter of this journey, Songs Of Abandon is perhaps the most intimate and vulnerable work Urlo has ever created. Born in a moment of solitude and personal darkness, the album originated from a radical exercise: writing one song a day, for nine consecutive days, using only acoustic guitar and voice. Later, these sketches were shaped into fully realized tracks, with lyrics and subtle layers of sound – not to overwhelm, but to underline the fragile, raw atmosphere that pervades them. The result is a stripped-down, emotionally charged collection that embodies an inner search: the power of music as a tool to face abandonment, to dig into oneself, and ultimately to glimpse the possibility of an embrace.
With Embrace The Abandon, THE MON reaffirms itself as one of the most personal and uncompromising projects. It is a body of work that fuses vulnerability and strength, speaking directly to the listener with sincerity, leading them through shadow towards light. An intimate yet powerful sound experience, intertwining the minimalism of acoustic folk with the dark, visionary tension that has always defined Urlo’s artistic path.
Both albums were written, performed, produced, recorded, mixed, and mastered by Urlo at The Howl, Italy, between 2023 and 2025, and as with all Supernatural Cat releases, completed with artwork by the Malleus Rock Art Collective, who also created the animated videos.
With the new single, Urlo reveals, “‘Mayhem’ is a furious piece, voice and guitar joined together to scream what our world has become: a great chaos in which every day we sink deeper and deeper. The lyrics tell of what happens around us: the sky turning more and more into hell, those who should guide us blinded by power, holding the lightning bolts that will lead us to destruction, without realizing that it will also be their fate. The chaos surrounding us is a light that explodes, a star shining in the hands of those who cannot see anything but the vortex of chaos itself. Today more than ever we cannot remain silent: we need to shout against the evil that devours us, against the indifference that is dragging us toward the abyss. Mayhem is not just a song, it is a necessary cry, rage turning into resistance, the voice that breaks the silence before it is too late.”
Metal Injection writes, “If you’re looking for a different kind of heavy today, you’re in the right place. We’re streaming the new single ‘Mayhem’ from THE MON… This one feels like a Monster Magnet cut and I’m here for it.”
Watch THE MON’s video for “Mayhem” first at Metal Injection HERE.
Songs Of Abandon will be released digitally, on CD, and with both standard and limited LP pressings on November 7th. Those who preorder the limited edition of Songs Of Abandon will have early access to an advance preorder of Songs Of Embrace. Find preorders at the Supernatural Cat webshop HERE and in the USA at A Thousand Arms HERE, and watch the “Your Eyes” video HERE.
The second chapter, Songs Of Embrace, is an instrumental counterpart – darker, ambient, and ritualistic – and it will be unveiled in the Spring of 2026.
Where Ufomammut projects massive, otherworldly soundscapes, THE MON offers a more vulnerable and introspective experience. The music moves through shadowy electronic landscapes, ambient textures, and hypnotic dark folk, always guided by an emotional core that searches for meaning, balance, and transformation. The name THE MON evokes several layers of meaning: a contraction of “demon,” “monk,” and the Japanese word 門 (mon, meaning “gate”), a symbolic passage toward altered states of consciousness and inner truth. This duality of light and dark, sacred and profane, runs through the entire project.
https://www.urlothemon.com
https://themon.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/urlo_the_mon
https://www.facebook.com/urlothemon
https://www.youtube.com/@TheMon_official
https://www.supernaturalcat.com
https://www.facebook.com/Supernaturalcat666
https://www.instagram.com/SupernaturalCat_recs
https://www.malleusdelic.com