Moonknight "Valinor"

"Valinor", the new album by LA's depressive black metal entity Moonknight, whose cloak hides the creative mind behind the project, Horus aka Lord Foul who is also (as many of you out there already know) in the barbarian blackened trio, Harassor. 

"Valinor" is the third and probably most intimate album in Moonknight's discography, he's been releasing some splits and EP's as well, and after a first listen, I immediately realized that this new release sounds a bit different from the previous albums "Toplov" and "Ligeia". Yet it's true that many moons separate this new material from the oldest, so evolution came naturally. The first thing I noticed is that the tracks in "Valinor" don't sound as raw and menacing, no. But soundwise speaking, there's still a link between them, that fuzzy and murky sound is still Mooknight's trademark although it now seems to weep instead of waving his sword and going out on a killing spree throughout the night. And still he lurks in the shadows but instead of that sword he now holds his cold, dying grey heart. 

"Valinor" embraces sorrow allowing it to drag slowly through mourning and grief territories. Opening track "An Initiation" starts out with some kind of a droning buzz where soon those seesaw guitar riffs spread out and give way as the perfect greeting card opening way further into the album. The vocal is still harsh and follows the same style as heard in Moonknight's previous works, a screaming mixture of anger, distress and pain. While tracks "With Bright Knives" and "Aconitum" drags us deep into the somber pit of sorrow, "Helplessness" is a bit more cold-blooded and brings to the surface a bit more of that anger that flows in the veins of Mooknight. But don't keep your hope, soon we're pulled down again with "Pleasure Funeral" and the beautiful "Broken Blade" that to me is just one of the best tracks featured here, the environment created by this track is absolutely dreamy and so, so cold. It really can pull our mind into the most haunting and desolate of Winter landscapes. Very in the likes of bands like Thou Shell of Death if you seek some comparisons. Beautiful atmosphere. "Western Shores" is served as a cold instrumental and is the perfect motto for another great and best track here, a track that gives name to this album. I can sense that "Valinor" is very personal, not just by it's lyrics but soundwise and how the whole track is constructed. All about personal feelings that surface from time to time. Personal and intimate experiences that are locked down inside our cold hearts. The notes of "Valinor" sway and takes us gently inside the cold heart of Moonknight, there we can almost see a little glimmer of light, a light that keeps on burning and keeps Moonknight alive in order to deliver us the best depressive bleak tunes. I swear to God that I got goosebumps the first time I heard this track. The melodic notes in the middle of the track are simply beautiful. 

"Valinor" is another great milestone into the discography of Moonknight and also very worthy of your attention. It's just how depressive metal should be, cold, bleak yet served sharp barbs. No life, no joy, no fun.

Valinor

"Valinor" will be out soon through Rising Beast. Keep an eye out for both digital and physical editions. 

Moonknight "Senmorta"

"Senmorta" is the brand new EP from Moonknight, the solo project of Horus aka James Brown III, who you might know from the band Harassor who also runs Rising Beast Recordings. For these 5 new songs, Horus has stepped away from the atmospheric black metal style established on releases like "Ligeia", "Toplov" and the recent split 7" with Ukraine's Moloch, opting instead for a vicious blackened death/thrash approach. Featuring live drums from Andorkappen aka Lord Time, these songs carry the Moonknight aesthetic into new territory and will serve as a precursor to the next full-length. 

Indeed, this slight turn in Moonknight's sound is a challenge, specially to Horus. The songs on "Senmorta" may have acquired new dynamics and new structures but they haven't lost their essence, well hidden in its core. In other words, when we first hear these new tracks we quickly recognize that we are face to face with Moonknight. Like in "Street Rot City" and "Usurpers", the first two opening tracks of the EP, they clearly have a strong thrash and punk vibe behind, treated here with that special and unique touch that only Horus can give. The guitar still sounds incisive enough while the vocals clearly pull to an almost old school death metal territories. Just like "Usurpers", "A.R.S." is a short track, they almost reach the two minute mark, but that's more than enough to state that this new turn, in terms of sound, will certainly extend in future records of Moonknight. Short but effective. Done. 

But then there are tracks like "A Dying Star" that seem to peek into the past where Moonknight still manages, amidst this blackness, to embody in his music elements of such beautiful, almost romantic melancholy making it to sound so special and unique. I really love this (not so) softer side of Mooknight's music. But not all here is roses, well.. it can be, but they are black and have big and sharp thorns. 

"Phantom World", the track that closes this great EP in all of its glory, carries those same romantically dramatic elements that swirl around frenetic and chaotic rhythms. It's almost as if Mooknight grabs that kind of romantic sadness that we only hear in genres like post-punk or shoegaze and reinterprets here in his own way. I can only describe the weight of drama on this track in one word: Beautiful.

With "Senmorta", Moonknight opens a new passage to new, well-known territories but always with one eye in the past. Honestly, I really enjoyed this EP, it left me begging for more. The sound here is sharp and cohesive with moments that can go from the most frenetic thrash/punk style to a more atmospheric/melancholic kind of black metal. I really look forward to another full-length of Moonknight. 

Meanwhile head over to Rising Beast Bandcamp and stream/download this great EP by Mooknight, just follow the link below. A limited edition tape of "Senmorta" will see the light of day soon, so keep your eyes opened for this one.

Senmorta

Moonknight "Ligeia"

One of the albums I'm addicted to lately, is this "Ligeia" from Moonknight, a Black Metal project from James L. Brown, guitarist of LA's black metal commandos Harassor who also runs the label Rising Beast. "Ligeia" consists of 6 new compositions that were actually recorded prior to many of the songs appearing on "Toplov" (the 2010's debut from Moonknight). "Ligeia" represents a more focused vision, with more than a passing nod to the early Scandinavian sounds circa late 80' to early 90's. But this is far from another Darkthrone clone... James L. Brown (aka Roach) draws from a variety of styles and sources like shoegaze, post-rock, thrash, punk, and synth ambience to make these arrangements uniquely his own. Accompanying this special CD package is a set of mini-art prints from Louisville, KY's visual assassin William David Pollard, who created a series of dark and disturbing paintings inspired by each of the 6 songs. The result is an infernal and surreal collaboration between two like-minded souls...an attack on the eyes as well as the ears. It will be soon available at Rising Beast Bigcartel, just keep an eye on this one.

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