Artist: Moon Oracle
Country: Finland
Label: Bestial Burst
Formats: CD Single
Year: 2023
After the band’s second full-length, ‘Ophidian Glare’, released earlier in 2023, Moon Oracle already returns with a 2-track single, also released by the great Bestial Burst label. Yet, while there are only a couple of months in between both release, the music is considerably different.
‘Ophidian Glare’ was a raucous Black Metal affair, with obvious hints to the musical legacy of Ildjarn combined with moody keyboards in an overall sound that bears resemblances with the minimalistic DNA of Flooded Church Of Asmodeus the band definitely delivered a unique sound. Something that has already been started with the two 2021-releases affairs, the ‘Muse Of The Nightside’-album and their split with Sombre Figures. Yet, ‘Ophidian Glare’ showcased a much more mature and balanced sound, consequently leading to a very diverse and adventurous album.
Though, the music presented on this single, with a playing time of not even eight minutes, seems to be adjusting the musical course of the band a bit again. Nothing radical, it feels like minor tweaking of the formula and for sure the seasoned trio behind Moon Oracle were able to strike an even further balanced recipe.
With the accompanying promo text on their Bandcamp-page the band describes it as being “Droney, doomy and bass heavy as ever”. That is pretty much summing up the musical identity of what is on here, although the spirit of Ildjarn is still present it feels more like a band like Mortuary Drape, Barathrum or Varathron doing a Hawkwind cover session here; in a heavy, stripped down and with a deepfelt occult fashion. The spacey keyboards definitely do feel droney and doomy and the bass-heavy aspect that I already mentioned in the review for ‘Ophidian Glare’ is coming even more into its own in this musical frame than it did on their sophomore album. That all came a bit at the expense of the minimalistic character, but the grittiness of the production makes up for it in an almost Punk/Garage kind of way.
I doubt that Moon Oracle would ever be releasing anything that is suitable for any metal fan’s ears, but for those who are not easily scared by some unorthodox mixing up of styles and a bareboned approach to the Black Metal genre, this short-but-sweet single is definitely a great haul. And if this is an appetizer of what the upcoming work will be, then those connoisseurs of the weird and wicked will be in for a treat.
