| CD REVIEW Moon |
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Band: Moon The origins of Moon, the Polish one, go back to 1996, when experienced musician / vocalist Cezar wanted to start a studio-only side-project aside of his main band (at that moment), Christ Agony (for your information: the guy is / was, throughout the past years, also involved with e.g. Whispers, Union, Seth, Gilotyna or Nox Lunaris – it). The activities of Christ Agony, however, were put to rest for a while, so Cesar decided to turn his Moon-project, originally meant to record and release one single album, into a full line-up formation. Two albums followed soon after, Daemon’s Heart (Pagan Records, 1997) and Satan’s Wept (Pagan / System Shock, 1999), and the band finally did its first live gig during the very first edition of the big Thrash’em All Festival in 1999. Unfortunately, the band disbanded soon after. Last year, Cezar reformed Moon, soon joined by Hexen (drummer in Hate, Chaosphere, Arkona, Damned and many others) and Kriss (Hell United), and after a few months, Moon signed to upcoming Polish label Witching Hour (with some excellent releases lately, like from Non Opus Dei, Magnus or Morowe – all of them reviewed for / on the site, posted in October). Except for the drum parts, everything was recorded in April and May 2010 at Progresja Studio with engineer / producer / mixer Arek ‘Malta’ Malczewski (known for his work with, for example, Behemoth, Elysium, Vesania, Azarath or Lost Soul, to name but a few – it), and mastered at the well-known Hertz Studio by Wojtek and Slawek Wieslawscy (the famous brother-duo, sort of specialised in, especially, Polish [Vesania, Crionics, Deivos, Elysium, Dissenter etc] and Belgian [Emeth, Suhrim, The End Of All Reason, The Reckoning] Extreme Metal formations – it). The line-up on this recording is: Cesar (g, v), Gonthy (g; Abusiveness, Soul Snatcher, Twilight), Vizun (d) and Engraved / Ulcer / Deivos / Blaze Of Perdition / Abusiveness / … (session) member Mscislaw (b, v), by the way. After the ominous intro “Summoning Of Natan”, created and performed by Xaos Oblivion (e.g. Perdition, Abusiveness, Demonic Slaughter, Open Hell, Sytris), Lucifer’s Horns is another (huge) step within Moon’s existence. The album contains elements from both former albums (which did differ a little from each other), yet this isn’t just an easy Part Three. Lucifer’s Horns is the most intense Moon-recording to date, undoubtedly, created around fast-paced and aggressive riffs and a firm yet brutal rhythm section (although the drum patterns could have been more varying?), interspersed with fiery solos, and driven by deep, guttural screams. The album comes with a rather timeless, or better: time-transcending, approach, being both old fashioned (which does not mean uninspired) and modernised (which does not mean over-produced). The album is more varying too in comparison to both former recordings. It is a straight-forward one, yet those few subtle extras make Lucifer’s Horns sound more interesting than before – what to think, for example, about the Spanish guitars (only shortly, but whatever) in “Torches Begin To Burn”? And the few atmospheric background keyboards? Or those sharp, mind-penetrating solos? The slow-down moments versus sudden accelerations? Personally I wasn’t a real ‘fan’ during the early years (Daemon’s Heart and Satan’s Wept), but … I’m a ‘fan’ right now! You will be too, toediloe… 88/100 Ivan Tibos. |
