Review Summary: This is Episode 666.....Destination? CHAOS!!!!
In a world……
Where the once mighty legacy of Gothenburg……
Has descended into the pits of mediocrity……
Comes a new wave of hope……
A band destined to restore the once great empire of Melodic Death Metal to its former glory……
Can these young pups from California fulfill the prophecy….
…and make this subgenre great again?
Find out in January 2024 in Upon Stone’s highly anticipated…
DEAD MOTHER MOON!!
San Fernando Valley shredders Upon Stone come thrashing out of the gates of 2024 with a half hour homage to Jesper Stromblad, Anders Björler, and any kid with a guitar that called Gothenburg their home in the 1990s. Anyone familiar with
The Jester Race,
Whoracle, or
Slaughter of the Soul will immediately pick out similarities—be it the riffs, the songwriting, or the vocals. The songs are fast and thrashy and channel those Gothenburg melodies through the gritty, buzzsaw HM-2 filter the bands on the other side of Sweden were doing at the time (read: Entombed and Dismember). In a more contemporary comparison, think of Gatecreeper covering old In Flames songs. That is
Dead Mother Moon in a nutshell.
It’s a new album, sure, but you’ve heard it before; Upon Stone aren’t attempting to create anything new here. And when I say you’ve heard them before, you really have heard them before. “Dusk Sang Fairest” is just In Flames’ “Gyroscope.” “Paradise Failed,” which sports a feature from American melodeath-turned-metalcore band Shadows Fall, rips a bridge straight from In Flames’ “Episode 666.” It even occurs at the exact same time—go to 1:38 in both songs and compare. Sure, okay, they’re cheeky Easter eggs, I respect that. But with an album as short as
Dead Mother Moon, the old school worship sticks out more than the newer, fresher parts. To some, a throwback album is adequate, but to others—well, it leaves them wanting something more.
Dead Mother Moon closes out with its longest and perhaps most ambitious song, “The Lantern” (ambitious in that Upon Stone are, in fact, capable of writing songs that aren’t mere In Flames and At The Gates tributes). It is a sound I wish the band explored further, but perhaps that is to come. This is only their first record, and if it—oh, and Majesties’ Vast Reaches Unclaimed, of course—is any indication, the world craves more of that 90s Gothenburg sound.
