United Guttural - FUNEREAL MOON "Beneath The Cursed Light of a Spectral Moon" CD

FUNEREAL MOON "Beneath The Cursed Light of a Spectral Moon" CD
[CDGR-004]

$11.00

FUNEREAL MOON "Beneath The Cursed Light of a Spectral Moon" CD

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Artist: FUNEREAL MOON

Title: Beneath The Cursed Light of a Spectral Moon

Format: CD

Country: Mexico

Genre: Ambient Black Metal

Record Label: Guttural Records

Essential Mexican Black Metal; truly one of the greatest Underground Black Metal release to come out of the whole Americas hemisphere!

Evil Blackened soundscapes of uncompromising darkness (similar to the recordings by MZ.412 on Cold Meat Industry, but definitely NOT 'noise') make up the first 4 songs, before giving way to the rest of the album of purely Satanic Black Metal with that true feeling similar to old atmospheric BURZUM, necro early BATHORY, Germany's NASTROND, and early USBM pioneers PROFANATICA! Creepy crawling atmospheres with unsettling whispery vocals, moaning tortured women, funeral keyboards, and hallucinogenic ambience, alternating with mid-paced blasting BM intensity. The keyboards and drums take center-stage, as acoustic guitar is used only sparingly, but a demonic majesty prevails to add to the chilly, ritualistic proceedings. A swirling, cloudy orgy of devilish mysticism throughout, serves as the perfect soundtrack to black-hooded, candle-lit unholy rites.

Tracklisting:

1. Revelation (Intro) 01:51
2. Where Shadows of Decadence Dwell 06:48
3. Beneath the Cursed Light of a Spectral Moon 03:58
4. Funereal Letanies from the Graves 02:25
5. The Howl of the Black Witch 03:40
6. Death, War and Hate (Extermination of All Forms of Life) 02:39
7. Vrykolkas (White Irish Eyes) 06:11
8. Lucifer's Throne of Temptations 03:02
9. I Came from Darkness to Conquer 11:14
10. Werewolf Nightmare 03:15
11. The Sign of the End of Time (Outro) 01:44
Total playing time 45:57

Sounds:

Review:

Written by Noktorn [Metal Archives]

The metal scene has never seemed to entirely accept Funereal Moon into the fold; it seems strange that a community which takes in Abruptum and Stalaggh with open arms would deny these guys the respect they so rightfully deserve. Funereal Moon, though playing a variety of dark ambient mixed with black metal (after a fashion) still seems significantly removed from the black metal scene as a whole; one of the members has mentioned that he doesn't consider Funereal Moon to play black ambient, but dark ritual music best listened to while under the influence of various intoxicating substances. Whichever view you subscribe to, Funereal Moon is undeniably one of the most unique ambient-leaning artists in the underground music scene today, and certainly a band worthy of much more attention than they currently receive.

Funereal Moon plays a very occult and simple (though not entirely minimal) style of dark ambient for the most part; the music on 'Under The Cursed Light Of A Spectral Moon' is dominated by murky, distorted synth tones, sparse samples and field recordings, and an array of grumbling, screaming, or speaking voices just past the dark veil of the warm, claustrophobic production. Unlike most bands who attempt such a mixture, Funereal Moon is an ambient group first and a black metal band second: the black metal tracks are few and far between, and though they're genuinely black metal, the dark ambient is certainly the predominant element to be found on this disc. While the ambient does have a distinctly black metal flavor about it, it still feels strangely removed from the black metal scene; there's no real way for me to quantify it other than to say that it feels a step removed from the black metal community.

As for the merit of the ambient compositions themselves, they're very good. One of the more important features of this disc, being so ambient-heavy, is that there's a substantial amount of variation within the ambient tracks themselves. While the tracks all generally revolve around murky, rounded synth tones, the material around and within them tends to shift: works can swing wildly from melodic and synth-driven to noisier, more chaotic and vocal-driven. Even within tracks, mood and melodic phrasings will shift, bend, and evolve in interesting directions, far from the ultra-static works which tend to litter black metal albums. The ambient and black metal never really intersects; each style is relegated to its own set of tracks, but this doesn't really prevent the work from feeling very coherent and whole. Neither do the dark ambient tracks feel like a series of interludes around the black metal; they feel just as significant to the overall feel of the disc as the more active music, which is a rarity in this style of music.

The black metal material is a little stranger; I'm not sure if actual guitars are used or if the main melodic voice is simply a distorted synth tone which manages to sound a great deal like a tremolo picked guitar. In keeping with the album's overall coherency, the black metal tracks are very ambient and minimal in nature: cackling, reverbed vocals swoop over the guitar/synth bed, which in turn rides on the thrash beat-heavy (real, to my knowledge) drum performance. While the 'riffs' (for lack of a better term) are generally repetitive and murkily played, the drums provide a much more dynamic edge to the music, with their warm and cracking tone occupying a great deal of tonal space. If anything, the black metal tracks seem to be a way to break up the stretches of dark ambient, not the other way around; it makes for a strangely balanced and enjoyable listening experience that's an almost complete inversion of the expected.

Much of your enjoyment of this album rides on how much you enjoy the ritual ambient that most of this release is composed of. If you find yourself greatly enjoying some of the murkier, dungeonlike ambient artists out there, you should certainly pick this up. Fans of traditional black metal exclusively should stay far away; this will definitely be too bizarre for you. For those who enjoy more experimental works, however, this is an excellent item to investigate from an artist who should be heard.

This product was added to our catalog on Sunday 10 January, 2010.