HUNTERS MOON The Great Pandemonium [CD]

Seemingly a lifetime ago, in an underground metal scene far removed from that of today, an inconspicuous entity named HUNTERS MOON made its recorded debut in 2006 with a two-song demo. Stridently traditional, nevertheless did this mysterious Australian entity offer hazily addicting black metal of a most Bathorian bent. Three years passed before the band's first EP, The Serpents Lust, courtesy of HELLS HEADBANGERS. Here, the veil was lifted about the band's membership - featuring past and present members of Denouncement Pyre and Nocturnal Graves - but still did HUNTERS MOON evocatively expand that Bathorian black metal, becoming stouter and more epic, and assuredly different than those erstwhile bands.

Alas, many years passed - a dozen, in fact - but at long last do HUNTERS MOON make their full-length debut with The Great Pandemonium. Indeed, immediately is it felt that the band's sound has evolved greatly since the no-less-considerable The Serpents Lust. With a veritable arsenal of songwriting at their disposal, HUNTERS MOON here equally range drawn out mid-tempos along with fast and chaotic riffing. It's a thrilling balance they walk with utmost aplomb, giving The Great Pandemonium remarkable dynamics and high drama. What's more, the sense of the epic from prior short-length works is heightened across this long-form record, no doubt driven by a dark melodic undercurrent which ignites the atmosphere of ancient black metal.

Most of all, perhaps, is the massive production prominently displayed across The Great Pandemonium, giving HUNTERS MOON an extremely tangible physicality so often lost with nowadays "metal" records. Drummer D.M. has joined fulltime, and his drums were recorded in a bluestone church built in the 1800s. To that, some of the album's lyrics and themes were inspired by John Martin’s Paradise Lost illustrations as well apocalyptic and biblical paintings, which is provocatively echoed in the cover artwork courtesy of Misanthropic-Art.

The culmination of songs and concepts spanning the last decade, truly titled is The Great Pandemonium. HUNTERS MOON enter their next decade of existence with fiery fanfare, and continue to write new material with the intent of more regular studio albums.