Death in June Album: “The World That Summer”

While earlier work from Death in June had been kind of all over the place stylistically, The World That Summer (1986) really coalesced well, and it was the first true offering of the "Death in June sound" that later became known as "dark folk." The lads slow it down and calm it down here, with much more acoustic material than usual, a stronger sense of traditional melody than on earlier releases, and much more attention to lyriccraft than can be found in Death in June's earlier work. This is a true pop album, and I mean that in the best sense of the word-- it's catchy, almost sweet in places, while still retaining that edge of mournful longing that raises Douglas Pearce's lyrics well above those of the average love ballad.

There's certainly no dearth of hit-potential tracks here. "Come Before Christ and Murder Love" is one of the finest pop songs ever written. "Torture by Roses" could be placed alongside more meditative works by Paul Westerberg or Bob Mould and hold its own easily. And those are just the two that spring to mind immediately; this is an album full of small gems. Absolutely worth your time and money.

This is definately, at least in my opinion, the best Di6 album. I have to disagree with another review that claimed this album has a largely acoustic sound. That is simply not true. The songs on this album do make use of acoustic guitar, but this is fully backed up with keyboards--one reason why I like this album more than later Di6 albums that relied too heavily on acoustic guitar.

"Hidden Among The Leaves" is a stand-out track, notable for it's use of Japanese lyrics and a female voice.

I feel that this is a solid release. During this period Death in June were doing this death disco with some acoustic guitars that made a very unique sound. This band has always been a mystery to me which I find appealing. Some of their songs have these beautiful melodies, but underneath I feel some evil lurking in there to make it dangerous.