Review Summary: Abrupt yet emotionally resonant.
Holy Fawn struck gold when they galloped onto the metal and shoegazing scene. With
Death Spells, they showcased a unique blend of genres with the latter two while making their sound easily digestible. Under the guise of nature themed lyrics and massively cinematic soundscapes, they proved themselves emotionally intelligent and well-rounded musically. While they were not quite ready for their monumental sophomore album, they delivered a memorable yet short blast of music with their EP
The Black Moon.
Despite its short length,
The Black Moon injected more diversity than ever into their sound. Enter "Candy," a song that brought to mind everything memorable about their debut. Their breathy shoegazing style of vocals and aquatic whirlpool of tremolo paved the way as its opener. It would fit perfectly in the pathing of Death Spells and aided the bands momentum even further. After a colossal stampede of percussion, the song gave way to "Tethered," a totally different beast. Adding more variety to their sound, the song was a fully ambient anxiety pill filled with twinkling soundscapes and droning guitar like something out of a Hammock album. With introducing a more ambient side of themselves, Holy Fawn opened up the door for what they can do with their sound in the future.
Ending with "Blood Pact," the listener dove deep into a dense bath with a beautiful dream pop section. Like a river flowing into a waterfall, the song abruptly descended into a passionate blackgaze abyss. As the listener was swallowed up in the sturdy production, one could not help but feel weak in the knees. It was downright haunting and dreamlike.
The Black Moon ended there, like a cliffhanger leading to the next album.
This brought the listener to the album's only flaw:
The Black Moon was simply way too short. There existed so much brilliance to be had in its 13 minute run time, but EPs can be so much longer. One could not help but want so much more from Holy Fawn. Luckily, they have continued to deliver with their sophomore album. However, being left with this short burst of music was wistful yet definitively satisfying. For lovers of shoegaze metal, blackgaze, dream pop, whatever music listeners love to call Holy Fawn, don't miss some of their best work on
The Black Moon.
