ITP REVIEW: SECRETS OF THE MOON: PRIVILEGIVM

BAND: SECRETS OF THE MOON (BERLIN,GERMANY) GENRE: BLACK METAL LABEL: PROPHECY PRODUCTIONS/LUPOS LOUNGE RELEASE DATE: 9/18/09













PREVIOUS RELEASES (CATALOG) : ANTITHESIS (2006 -LUPOS LOUNGE), EXHIBITIONS (2005-EP-LUPOS LOUNGE),
CARVED IN STIGMATA WOUNDS (2004-LUPOS LOUNGE-), LIVE IN BITTER FIELD (2001-LUPOS LOUNGE), DE MUSICA MUNDANA (2002-COMPILATION),
STRONHOLD OF THE INVIOBLABLES (2001-CICATRIX), Auf einer Wanderung durch goldene Sphären -( SPLIT-EP with Lunar Aurora -1999), Promo Tape - (DEMO-1998), Vanitas - (DEMO- 1997), Unearthed Arcana - (DEMO- 1995)

BEST RELEASE (S): ANTITHESIS (2006)
TRACKLISTING : SECRETS OF THE MOON:
Privilegivm: 1. Privilegivm (1:53)
2. Sulphur (9:11)
3. Black Halo (7:05)
4. I Maldoror (7:42)
5. Harvest (I Forgive Myself / The Tree Of Life / Exsultet) (13:28)
6. For They Know Not (9:36)
7. Queen Among Rats (7:58)
8. Descent (1:22)
9. Shepherd (7:11)

ITP RATING: ***

PRODUCTION: ****

SONGWRITING: ***

PERFORMANCE: ***


SECRETS OF THE MOON are a quality black metal band from Germany founded in 1995. Despite various lineup changes, SECRETS OF THE MOON have invoked black metal stylings ranging from progressive to black and roll comparable to SATYRICON. However, SECRETS OF THE MOONS melodic black metal invoke a doomy, dark atmosphere and progressive textures
as this band has plenty of potential, if SECRETS OF THE MOON's originality could top WATAIN's Dissection worship.
SECRETS OF THE MOONS' "Privilegivm" kicks off with the the title track, a doomy, dirge of blackened instrumental chaos, me likes as "Privilegivm" segues into the next track "Sulphur".
"Sulphur", with it's triggered drum beat, dramatic chugging riffs, and hard rock overtones takes off into melodic overdrive of progressive, melodic blackened metal.. "Sulphur"'s riffs while simple, invoke a black and roll feel, while still heavy and dark, with pristine production. I love the
dirty raw, vocals of "SG" and how they fit perfectly into the melodic riffs, right in the pocket with subtle blast beats.
"Black Halo" oozes in with a dark, dirge of fist pumping slow paced blackened doom, until 1:30, with a well paced thrash riff synced in with double bass drums as that is a primary riff for this tune. SECRETS OF THE MOON "Black Halo" ups the ante to a standard tempo and some raucous black, heavy, progressive roll and some blackened thrash too.
"I Maldoror", is good, fist pumping black and roll, dark, with, although there isn't enough variation in this tune to keep me interested.
"Harvest (I Forgive Myself / The Tree Of Life /" rumbles in with a tribal beat as the longest tune on "Privilegivm". "Harvest"'s spoken word vocals enter in at 5:00 until the black and roll kicks in, cocky. There are parts of "Harvest" that invoke some interesting prog and roll, with a dirge almost drone feel, but it seems uninteresting an incohesive to me.
"For They Know Not", invokes a melancholy, lightly picked riff as the tune morphs into black and roll, dark in essence, doomy in parts as it's execution flows well.
"Queen Among Rats" invokes a doomier feel, crawling in at a snails pace, gaining momentum into a mid tempo dark, melancholy madness, an anthem of dark misanthropy.
"Descent" is a one 1:22 instrumental sweeper segueing perfectly from "Queen Among Rats" into
"Shepherd".
"Shepherd" seeps in slow and melancholy with clean vocals, dark balladry of sorts, morphing into prog rock chords, boring me to tears, until it's ending.....
Although the production and mix on SECRETS OF THE MOON's "Privilegivm" is excellent as the release should be listened to as a whole instead of individual songs as each tune segues into an other. I do understand the essence of black and roll, with some doom, as I do admit, I'm not a fan of black and roll, with the exception of the shoe gazer excursions of DSBM, VREID, and even some recent DARKTHRONE. However, adding melancholic doom to the equation of black and roll sounds like an brilliant idea. Perhaps SECRETS OF THE MOON's doomier and melancholy moments invoke a more misanthropic feel than the black and roll. If both elements were more cohesively amalgamated, with variations in tempo, and a consistently dark atmosphere, perhaps I would have enjoyed this release more.
Otherwise I enjoyed 40 to 50% of SECRETS OF THE MOON's "Privilegivm" and was bored to tears with the other half.

ITP RATING: ***

PRODUCTION: ****

SONGWRITING: ***

PERFORMANCE: ***
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-