Review Summary: Symphonic raw black metal?
Symphonic black metal can be a sore subject among black metal fans. Elitist fans will tell you that any black metal with synths or keyboards or anything of the sort isn't "trve" enough to be considered REAL black metal. Well, American one-woman band Moonlight Sword isn't hearing any of your ***.
So far this band has released 3 demo tapes and this one,
Imperial Dragon Kommando, is the most recent of the bunch. You can add Moonlight Sword to the list of USBM bands that has burst onto the scene as of late. This demo is reminiscent of the early Emperor and Cradle of Filth demo tapes from the early 90's. The production is lo-fi as hell and everything is muffled but that's part of the appeal. Distorted shrieks that sound like Beelzebub farting into Hitler's mouth make their way through the cold, fuzzy, hypnotic riffs with majestic keys bringing tons of melody through all the noise. Seriously the synths here give off the feel of some weird forest ritual as witches dance around butt ass naked. It's eerie and it's dark and it's everything you can ask for in a 5 song black metal demo.
Ladies and gentleMEN, Moonlight Sword is a band that you're gonna want to pay attention to. The way she mixes melody with dirty, raw black metal is truly something special. I'd say 85% of symphonic black metal bands are way over the top and that takes away from everything else.
Imperial Dragon Kommando is the perfect balance between synths, riffs and atmosphere. Nothing feels forced or sloppily put together. So sit back, turn this tape on and drift into winterland.
