CoC : Lunar Aurora - Of Stargates and Bloodstained Celestial Spheres : Review

Lunar Aurora - _Of Stargates and Bloodstained Celestial Spheres_
(Kettenhund Records, 1999)
by: David Rocher (7 out of 10)

Already Lunar Aurora's fourth full-length effort, _OSaBCS_ is a hateful offering of epic, very symphonic and warlike black metal that testifies to this German band's growing identity; indeed, despite the fact they never lacked musical qualities, Lunar Aurora had so far not always succeeded in being personal enough for them to really stand out among the plethoric black metal tide. This new album should, however, open all eyes to these black metallers' sincerity, as their violent blend of bellicose rage and eerie melody continues to refine, even after the metal scene has seemingly turned its back on this now rather breathless blackened metal genre. With a suitably murky, yet interesting and appealing production, the music contained on _OSaBCS_ is intricate and very varied, as serene atmospheric passages brutally transform into epic extremist assaults, carried by spectacular drumming and tight guitar playing; Lunar Aurora's main quality is that they don't merely rely on overwhelming facile keyboard melodies to turn lame guitar riffs into supposedly appealing and accessible tracks the way Mystic Circle do. No, Lunar Aurora actually consider synthetics as the very flesh of their songs, on the same level as the strings, drums or vocals, and in fact retain a considerable level of violence and harshness throughout the whole of _OSaBCS_. Even though symphonic black metal has been worn down to its weakest expression by countless bands making excessive use of single-fingered synthetic wannabe virtuosity, Lunar Aurora have proved, in my eyes, how faithful they are to this genre and its origins, a faith which truly haloes their art with a most occult and baleful light.

(article published 12/8/1999)

ALBUMS
11/11/2005	P Azevedo	8.5	Lunar Aurora - Mond