Review Summary: Having a drink with the Moon.
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine, my rental apartment.
The drink: A bottle of Belgium blanche beer.
The food: A box of cookies with chocolate covering and cherry filling (normally, not my choice to go with a beer, but blanche has that sweet undertone, so cookies were okay).
Cheater, you’d say. Anything sounds good when you’re drinking! Not true. Maybe when you’re getting stoned, anything goes but not when you’re getting (mildly) drunk. Getting drunk on coconut liquor while listening worked wonders with Vangelis Trigas but didn’t work at all with Rosa Walton. So, it’s not a given. How did it go this time, then?
Well, at first, I wasn’t sure if “Beneath the Lunar Tyrant” was my thing. I mean, the first two (proper) songs had everything a respectful black metal song should have with classic fast-paced guitar parts, screeching vocals, and blast beats. But to me these songs only actually worked when they deviated from the standard formula. Like, when the singer adopted a lower, more guttural growling. Or when there was a slower acoustic section, or rumbling mid-tempo riffs. Or the whole closing section of “The Battle of Agretes” with clean singing and intricate soloing. Overall, though, I wasn’t completely convinced.
Then, “Ruins of Taivaraseem” came and made everything right. That was also the point when the beer kicked in, but I did revisit the album today while sober to confirm my impressions. From this point on, Selenoplexia confidently keeps to that sweet spot where the songs retain their blackened death nature but are not too straightforward and familiar. “Ruins…” starts with cool rhythmic and stately riffs and then fluctuates between various moods throughout its runtime. I particularly enjoy the breathtaking slower section in the middle with excellent clean vocals by Courtney Vida, but then the song switches back to heavier sound and harsh singing and ends with another great melodic part with ghostly male cleans returning to great effect. The drumming also becomes more sophisticated for this song, switching from fast and furious mode to gentler accentuation of the guitar parts, and there are even some dungeon synths to be heard in the second half of the song.
I still have some beer left at this point and there is a power cut caused by the Russian drones and missiles attacking our energy infrastructure. Which is bad and maddening overall, but good for this specific occasion, because darkness helps me focus on the music. “Dreams of Wolves…” is an experimental track with its first half being just some interesting experiments with the guitar reverb, switching to heavy and ferocious mode for the second part. My only gripe is that the song is too good to last only four minutes, I wish the band expanded on it a bit.
The final song comes in, and that’s the point when I run out of beer. One bottle was never going to be enough for an eleven-minute-long epic, but I’m too lazy to go outside and buy another and I don’t want to upset the cat by leaving. At this point, Kraken has settled into a cozy fluffy bun on the sofa near me, and I’d hate to disturb him. So, for the final song I only have cookies. Which is okay, because “Passing through the Wounds of Abraxas” is basically an extended and refined version of “Ruins of Taivaraseem.” The band clearly knows how to make an engaging and versatile epic song. Finally, there are faster sections that make me want to headbang properly, but also an extremely cool and elaborate acoustic part in the middle with some restrained but efficient guitar wizardry. Mostly it’s a black/death metal song though, so if you want some fast-paced and heavy music it’s still there in spades. For me, it’s still about the nuances the band adds to their black metal foundation, which is why I particularly enjoy the closing part of the song. Softer guitars come in (again) but entwined wonderfully with peaceful and comforting sound of running water. A perfect way to unwind the listener and close off the album.
So, to sum up, this record is heavy yet intelligent, fierce yet refined, and there’s much more to it than you’d think initially. Maybe the (very small) demographic that wants their black metal to be just blast beats, tremolo, and screeching should pass on the album, but everybody else is welcome to try it on.
I wish I had more beer, though.
