Artist: Morbid Moon
Country: Germany
Label: Narbentage Produktionen
Formats: Cassette Tape
Year: 2024
By definition, Narbentage Produktionen is a label that leads you into the deepest caverns of underground Black Metal. The label’s vast back catalogue is brimming with bands that are more obscure than obscurity itself. Of course, not everything is entirely my thing, but the label’s persistence in unearthing the genre’s most arcane secrets from around the world is highly commendable. So with the label setting the real standard for what “underground Black Metal” is, it’s great to see them digging even deeper with a release like ‘Dark Shape Of The Forest’. Originally it was released on CD in 2006 through Mazarbul Records (including spelling error, “Forrest”) and it compiles two rather obscure demos from 1997 and 1998 by the German Black Metal band Morbid Moon.
The band released two demo tapes in 1997 and 1998, ‘Darklord’ and ‘As Eternal Night Falls’ respectively, but very little is known about these recordings. In fact, the tracks on ‘Dark Shape Of The Forest’ are different from the ones on the original 90’s tapes. Some tracks share similarities in title, so it could either be that the songs are just retitled or they can altogether be completely different tracks. I personally do not own original copies of the 90’s tape nor the Mazarbul Records released CD for comparison, so I’ll have to solely rely on the music of this newest edition. But regardless of the exact origin and background of these songs, ‘Dark Shape Of The Forest’ is an interesting – especially for those interested in 90’s underground Black Metal.
After a surprisingly great sounding and well-composed Dungeon Synth/Dark Ambient intro, the actual music kicks in far rawer than you’d expect from these opening Casio-sounds. Morbid Moon is a band that clearly was not trying to push any speed limits, instead they opted for the sort of Black Metal that fully relies on the atmosphere of constantly repeating riffs. The use of moody keyboards help to build the soundscape of hypnotising power, something that altogether is captivating in its sheer simplicity. Add to that a ditto raw production and you really have a piece of Black Metal that will appeal to those who are enamoured with bands like Bilskirnir, Moonblood and the likes. But, as a whole, ‘Dark Shape Of The Forest’ is a great way to relive those years of the second half of the 90’s. These were the formative years on which a lot of todays Raw Black Metal was built, many contemporary Black Metal bands are indebted to these years of pioneering and the overall pushing of Black Metal’s boundaries of bands like Morbid Moon. Morbid Moon themselves might not have left such a big mark on the scene, but looking at the bigger picture, this is a band that fits seamlessly into these wonderful days of yore. Feeling nostalgic? Yes, maybe a bit. Nothing wrong with that!
People who have followed Narbentage Produktionen for the last couple of years might find it easy to track back Morbid Moon through one of the two known members of the band being active in Pesten 1349 and Sumerian Moon which were both already found their music released by the German label. One of the other Pesten 1349 members is also involved in Øde and Ylmgard that are both also linked with Narbentage Produktionen. This also sets the musical circles in which Morbid Moon can be placed. So, besides the musical content, ‘Dark Shape Of The Forest’ is both a nice glimpse back in time and a release with some historical value that paints the picture of what 90’s underground Black Metal was all about.
