Artist: Rotten Moon
Country: Finland
Label: Ancien Culte
Formats: Demo Tape
Year: 2024
2022’s ‘The Endless Church’ demo by Finnish one-man Black Metal band intrigued me quite a bit, the Lo-Fi production and the rough-edged guitars matched perfectly with the captivating melodies. For reasons unknown, the band’s 2021 debut demo and full-length went under my radars, but I did some catching up with that great 2022 follow-up demo. Rotten Moon’s quality should not really have come as a surprise, as the project is led by Heinous Soul who is also 50% of the prolific and Black Metal-extraordinaire Circle Of Ouroboros as well as the amazing Absolute Key. Yet, although Rotten Moon bears a few similarities with the musician’s other musical adventures, it is mainly a pretty different musical entity.
‘Seal Of Decay’, like its predecessor also released by the French Ancien Culte label, is yet again a very interesting release. It is mainly built on the very same cornerstones of Rotten Moon’s previous recordings, yet at the same time it is quite different in both musical texture as well as the overall spirit. The band’s raw riffs are still there, but on ‘Seal Of Decay’ they have slowed down quite significantly and those typifying melodies are mostly gone. Instead there’s an almost spacey atmosphere that further adds to the hallucinating ambiance of the music and a true attribute to the even rawer and more Lo-Fi production.
These five new songs, together accounting for over half an hour of playing time, show that the project is growing increasingly toward a middle ground between Heinous Soul’s Circle Of Ouroboros and Absolute Key that is cast in a solid mould of Ildjarnian making. Especially the closing parts of the demo is incredibly impressive, with an even heavier spacey ambiance it feels like a delirious nightmare. Hearing this, it is not at all surprising that the musician in question loves to hang out and collaborate with Harri “Hail Conjurer” Kuokkanen. Perfect stuff for the darker days of the year…
