Artist: Mooncitadel
Country: Finland
Label: Out Of The Dungeon
Formats: CD
Year: 2026
Mooncitadel hit us with quite a surprise when they released ‘Stardawn Usurper’, an album that took the band’s mix of elements and reshuffled it from Symphonic Black Metal to cosmic Blackened Heavy Metal. That album was meant to represent the more experimental side of the band, and in that, it succeeded. But now the band is back with ‘Hyperborean Combat Overlord’ and the question is, does it fully return to the previous track or did the experimental side journey leave its mark on the band?
Well I would say, for the most part ‘Hyperborean Combat Overlord’ is indeed much more in line with ‘Onyx Castles and Silver Keys’ and ‘Night’s Scarlet Symphonies’ than it is with the previous album. Some of the experimental parts of ‘Stardawn Usurper’ still linger on ‘Hyperborean Combat Overlord’ though, but these are mostly restricted to shorter sections in for instance the song ‘Whisper the Night’s Poetry’. Overall the pace is much higher, and opener ‘In Lunar Spheres the Savage Death Awaits’ certainly has more fire than most of ‘Stardawn Usurper’ combined, without necessarily disqualifying that side journey. ‘Hyperborean Combat Overlord’ is just a more natural fit and sounds much more recongnisable within the Mooncitadel frame of Black Metal.
What you can expect is mostly uptempo Black Metal with a slight medieval atmosphere, and bombastic epic keys. With each album the integration of classic Heavy metal structures has become more profound and more successful, and that continues here. The seamless integration of that Heavy Metal side is admirable, where the pace, guitar sound and vocals decidedly put the music in the Black Metal category and the riffs and creative bass certainly make ventures into more classic 80’s territories apparent.
Before you may think that Mooncitadel sounds like Stormkeep: they don’t. In terms of intensity, there really is no doubt that this is a Black Metal record and it does not stray all too far from for instance ‘Night’s Scarlet Symphonies’. But a track like ‘Funeral Pyres under the Crepuscular Moon’ is a great example of where Mooncitadel stands anno 2026. Propulsive in pace, snarly in the vocal delivery yet epic and creative in breaks and progression with an uncanny catchiness and medieval atmosphere, it combines the first recordings with a more toned-down version of the experimental side on ‘Stardawn Usurper’. As said before, I think the real striking point of ‘Hyperborean Combat Overlord’ is how well the different elements are seamlessly coming together. And I find it both a very easily digestible and highly enjoyable record. Whether it will completely satisfy the desires of those that admire mostly the earliest outputs of the band is up for debate. But if you like fast-paced but a slightly more epic and medieval sort of Symphonic Black Metal, then this might be right up your alley.
