Monolord's Thomas V. Jäger: Hear Stirring New Solo Song "The Bitter End" | Revolver

Monolord's Thomas V. Jäger: Hear Stirring New Solo Song "The Bitter End"

"You can hear my voice is trembling at parts. Every time I listen, I get goosebumps."
Thomas V. Jäger PRESS 2020 monolord esben, Esben Willems
photograph by Esben Willems

Thomas V. Jäger is best known as the vocalist and guitarist of heralded doom-metal volume dealers Monolord. He showcases a whole other side to his creativity on his forthcoming debut solo album, A Solitary Plan, a sparse, intimate seven-song collection that, musically, revolves around acoustic guitar, synths and Jäger's raw, unfiltered vocals while, lyrically, treading dark personal ground. The album is due out on July 24th via RidingEasy Records — it's available for pre-order now — but today (June 11th), the singer-songwriter has teamed with Revolver to unveil its gripping lead single and closing cut, "The Bitter End." Stream it below.

"This album is me venting all of this emotional energy I've been carrying around," Jäger says. "Now I'm feeling more open about it, but at the start I had a hard time talking with friends and family. The record is what came out instead of talking about it." The core theme of A Solitary Plan is coming to terms with the likelihood of not becoming a parent after wanting to have a family for a long time, and the emotion of that realization is apparent in "The Bitter End." "When I put down vocal tracks on the last song 'The Bitter End', you can hear my voice is trembling at parts," he points out. "Every time I listen, I get goosebumps, which rarely happens with songs I write."

Jäger sings and plays all the instruments on the LP, other than the Mellotron on the title track, which was handled by Emil Roof. (See the full track listing, as well as the album's cover art, below.) "I could've rearranged [the songs] to get a Monolord vibe, but I wanted the basis of just voice, guitar and synths," he explains. "Really laid-back and mellow."

As for what he hopes listeners will get out of A Solitary Plan, Jäger says matter of factly, "I know that music helps people. This is without any irony — it's therapeutic. I know fans can interpret and use the songs for their own purposes. That feels meaningful to me."

Thomas v jager Monolord album cover solo
A Solitary Plan track listing:
01. A Solitary Plan
02. Creatures of the Deep
03. It's Alright
04. From the Ashes
05. The Drone (Oh Why)
06. Goodbye
07. The Bitter End