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SECRETS OF THE MOON
www.secretsofthemoon.de
I’ve followed the Secrets Of The Moon journey since their second album, ‘Carved In Stigmata Wounds’. I knew nothing about them when I picked the album up. The name of the band was interesting, the front cover was cool and the track titles sounded promising. They may have been one of the last bands I ever discovered this way, as we now quickly look up a band on our phones whilst flicking through the CDs or vinyl at the store. The reason for this preamble is that to appreciate ‘Black House’ you have to approach open minded. Look at the artwork, feel the artwork and immerse yourself in their world. If you are already familiar with this often overlooked band then you will know what to expect. In a word - Quality.

Each album feels like its own micro universe and has differences from the last. Starting out life as a black metal band with a somewhat traditional sound on their debut album, ‘Stronghold of the Inviolables’, they have quickly evolved with each release. When I heard the first track released from this new album, ‘Veronica’s Room’, I was little surprised as it had quite a goth rock, almost The Mission or Fields Of The Nephilim vibe about it. In a way, I’ve been used to SotM dabbling with this type of sound in their music before. I love the track ‘Shepherd from Privilegivm’ released in 2009, which to me felt a great goth track that was missed off a Nephilim album! Putting the album on to listen to in full was going to be interesting proposition. I was wondering if they had maybe gone a little too far, as I realised the whole album had this vibe and was maybe quite a lot less metal than previous output. Also, the album was using clean vocals all the way through.

The more I listened, though, I started to feel it - this is as heavy as they have always been, just now in a different way. The song writing feels in some way more mature and confident and there are plenty of metal moments that take it away from the initial goth rock vibe. The songs on this album feel like they need bigger stages to be played on, similar to bands like Satyricon and Katatonia when they made their stylistic step changes. This is the album that deserves to take Secrets Of The Moon to a wider audience. Whether you are already a fan, or coming to them as a new acolyte, be prepared to be putting ‘Black House’ as a contender for album of the year.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Lupus Lounge
Album
BLACK HOUSE
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Review by Paul Sims
RUNNING TIME:
52:21
RELEASE DATE:
8th May 2020
TRACK LISTING
1) Sanctum
2) Don't Look Now
3) Veronica's Room
4) He is Here
5) Cotard
6) Black House
7) Heart
8) Mute God
9) Earth Hour
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Germany
"This is the album that deserves to take Secrets Of The Moon to a wider audience. Whether you are already a fan, or coming to them as a new acolyte, be prepared to be putting ‘Black House’ as a contender for album of the year."
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