LUNAR SPELLS: Sacraments Of Necromantical Empires
Release year: 2024
Label: Northern Silence Productions
Some two years ago, we reviewed Greek Lunar Spell’s second album Demise Of Heaven (here). Now the Greek black metal act are back with their third album, and not much has changed.
In fact, by and large, the albums are so similar I could mostly just copy-paste the previous review and you’d be none the wiser. Well, with one significant difference.
You see, in the previous review, I remarked upon the keyboards and how they lent a kinship to Emperor and other 90’s purveyors of synth-laden black metal. On this album, the Greek trio have reduced the role of the synths in favour of a more guitar driven sound.
On one hand, this does give the band a bit of a rawer edge. The rather lo-fi sound, with plodding, muffled drums and dense walls of tremolo picked guitars adds another layer of rawness. But neither can disguise the inherent melodicity of the riffwork. The speedy tremolo picked riffs are quite melodic in a classic 90’s Scandinavian style, with maybe a dollop of French influence thrown in – in a style not entirely dissimilar to the Finnish sound.
The end result has nothing whatsoever to do with originality. Every single moment on this album has been done before time and time again. And, furthermore, the one truly glaring flaw on Sacraments Of Necromantical Empires is the lack of variation. Every song is pretty much the same, almost down to the six-and-a-half minute running times. Speedy drums, furiously sawing guitars, a slower section somewhere in the track, a bit of synth, and plenty of viciously croaking vocals. I honestly can’t tell this track apart from that.
Whilst this does impact the album negatively, it does so to a surprisingly small extent. Lack of originality and variation notwithstanding, Lunar Spells have with their third album crafted a very solid and enjoyable piece of classic black metal. Sure, the above shortcomings ensure it has no place in the forefront of the genre, but it’s a solid meat-and-potatoes album. The kind you won’t obsess over, but will sincerely enjoy listening to.
Only Death Is Real 