Secrets of the Moon: Privilegivm

Are you in the mood for some dark, chilling, atmospheric, and textured extreme metal? Well if so, get your hands on the latest from Germany's Secrets of the Moon, titled Privilegivm. It's been a few years since Intithesis, but for most the wait will have been well worth it. This latest release sees the band (LSK - Bass, sG – Guitars/ Vocals, and T. Thelemnar – Drums) dishing out plenty of menacing and spooky sounds that draw from death metal, black metal, doom, gothic, atmospheric, and avant-garde styles.

The majority of Privilegivm is made up of longer pieces in the 7-13 minute range, surrounded by some short interludes dripping with atmosphere. Tracks such as "Sulphur", "Black Halo", and "I Maldoror" contain a plethora of crushing riffs, deep growls, intricate drum work, and blood soaked atmosphere. The arrangements at all times are textured and splattered with passages of dark melancholy, and the temos vary from slow, doomy dirges to speedier fare more reminiscant of the death and black metal genres. Gotta love the epic "Harvest", a real chilling piece that kicks off with some tribal sounding drums and lilting guitar arpeggios before launching into a bombastic death/goth battalion of sound that might remind some of recent Celtic Frost. The final moments of this juggernaut are pure avant-garde metal, and drummers especially should check out the nimble work of T. Thelemnar on this one. "For They Know Not" and "A Million Suns" are about as good as doom metal can get, and sure to please fans of My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, and Novembers Doom, while "Queen Among Rats" is a pulsating death/black metal feast that works on all levels. Closing number "Shepherd" rounds out the album in dark, dreary fashion, as plodding drums, bluesy guitar leads, keyboards, and gothic, almost spoken word vocals from sG calling from the crypt. Chilling to say the least.

Privilegivm is dark extreme metal at its very best, a 60+ minute ride through the blackened bellows of hell and back. Give Secrets of the Moon credit for creating a platter of atmospheric, textured metal here that is just accessible enough to appeal to a wider audience, Nice digipack filled with lyrics, photos, and creepy artwork round out this well done package.

Track Listing

1. Privilegivm
2. Sulphur
3. Black Halo
4. I Maldoror
5. Harvest (Part I: I Forgive Myself / Part II: The Tree Of Life / Part III: Exsultet)
6. For They Know Not
7. A Million Suns
8. Queen Among Rats
9. Descent
10. Shepherd

Added: November 27th 2009
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 3930
Language: english

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