Review Summary: The lords are back yet again!
Finnish black metal band Warmoon Lord is a band that embodies all of the magic of the 90s black metal scene. They burst onto the scene in 2019 with their debut
Burning Banners of the Funereal War, an album that harkened back to the glory days of the 90s melodic black scene with bands such as Dissection, Dawn and Vinterland. The frigid and raw production mixed with the icy synths really made that album one of the best of the 2010s. Sole member Lord Vrăjitor brought on another member (Revenant Strigoi) to play drums in 2021 for the second album
Battlespells. While the sophomore album didn’t hit QUITE as hard as the first, it still hit pretty damn hard while retaining that enchanted, "haunted forest" type of atmosphere. Now 4 long years later, they’ve finally graced us with their third album
Sacrosanct Demonopathy...and boy do they deliver yet again.
The album is eased in with a nice acoustic instrumental piece before the apocalypse ends your life. The thing that Warmoon Lord does better than almost every single modern black metal band is they really conjure the essence of all the great bands that came before them without ever ripping them off. The synths are still very much present here, but they’re more subtly in the background this time, causing an eerie effect of someone standing right behind you and breathing down your neck.
Ah yes, the RIFFAGE is really the main component of this album and it couldn’t have been a better choice for the guys. Riff after riff and chaotic tremolo picking mixed with the flurry of blasts will almost cause the listener to feel disoriented. Where the hell are all the riffs coming from? The band opted for an album heavily influenced by the Norwegians this time around. Second wave influences are found all over. With the constant brain beating it almost reminds me of Gorgoroth mixing itself with melodic/ambient era Carpathian Forest. The riffage has melody yes, but the main objective is to spit out as many riffs as possible before the consumer taps out. But boys, there’s never enough riffs!
Another main strength of the band has always been Lord Vrăjitor’s ghastly vocals and it's no different this time around. His voice is like a troll spewing phlegm out of his disgusting, disease infested mouth. His shrieks are more in the middle of banshee and 10000000 year old mummy awakening from a slumber. His rapsy screams soar over the blizzard of riffs and blasts like a t-rex’s howl tore through the heart of its prey.
Warmoon Lord is hands down one of the best black metal bands that has come out in the past decade. Hell, they might be THE BEST. From their very first release they have been gracing us with the best meloblack any band has had to offer in the same time period. They have released 3 albums now and every single one of them is fantastic. These guys are showing up and coming black metal bands how to go about their business. No BS, no controversy, just tons of riffs and frigid synths. And isn’t that all any of us really want from our black metal ladies and gentlemen? Now stop wasting time and get to know Warmoon Lord!
