Artist: Witchmoon
Country: USA
Label: Death Hymns / Lampshade Tapes
Formats: LP
Year: 2025
Personally I ran into Witchmoon with the split LP’s with Lampir and Hand Of Glory from 2018 and 2019 respectively. Basically the peak of the madness surrounding the Raw/Lo-Fi Black Metal revival of those years. People were hunting every label and distro around the globe for the most harsh sounding bedroom Black Metal and paying outrageous sums of money for those tapes and vinyl. Many of these bands and labels have since vanished, but it seems quite a lot of the best bands from these days are still around and still doing their thing anno now. Honestly, I thought Witchmoon also died somewhere along the way, until the 2024 released ‘Macabre Divination’ saw the light of day. An EP that showed the band still being as relevant as it was some years ago.
Now, with ‘Eternal Winds Of Death’, Witchmoon delivers its full-length album, released digitally through Lampshade Tapes (where’s the tape?) and on vinyl through Death Hymns. And right off the bat, it is evident that Witchmoon still continues the path chosen almost a decade ago.
‘Eternal Winds Of Death’ is largely built on the same cornerstones as the majority of all those other bands roaming the same scene. Yet, Witchmoon chose to sound just a little less impenetrable. I wouldn’t go as far as saying this a rather clean sounding Raw Black Metal band, but still, it is clear enough to let the ingenuity of the riffs shine through. A comparison with some of the older Satanic Warmaster material is easily made and fully justified. In doing so, Witchmoon strikes a perfect balance between sounding raw and melodic at the same time, but it wouldn’t sound so convincingly without the stunning sense for dynamic song writing – yet another resemblance with Satanic Warmaster. The surprisingly catchy melodies go very well with the harsher riffs, giving the whole thing a very melancholic touch, something that is also evident in most Finnish Black Metal. Yet, occasionally it displays a certain punky-touch, placing it firmly back into the realm of modern American Black Metal. I wasn’t too sure whether we would ever see new Witchmoon material, I am glad to see the band return in optima forma. Reclaiming its rightful throne as one of the main rulers of the current USBM scene.
While I am glad the days of utter insanity are over and records no longer sold out in just a few minutes and such despicable labels such as Livor Mortis living off the hype are pushed pack into their teenage bedrooms, it happens that this sort of vinyl records are still hard to get or are steeply priced – especially in Europe. So, if you want to get a copy of this Witchmoon album, you should still be willing to dig a little deeper into your pockets than you usually like to.
