Post by Deleted on Aug 14, 2016 20:40:21 GMT -6
O, Majestic Winter - An Autumn Moon
Year: 2009
Genre: Atmospheric Experimental Black Metal
After the loud and heavy grindfest that was Defiling the Serpent's Temple, you wouldn't expect OMW to turn to such a softer sound on their next album, especially considering that it was released in the same year as the debut. Yet for some reason, they did, and I am very happy about that. An Autumn Moon is quite different from its predecessor. You'll still find gritty, raw, and strange black metal here, but it's mixed in with some very thick and persistent atmosphere and a new writing style that involves a lot of repetition. You can tell it's still the same band, and when the metal does shine through, you'll hear parts that will remind you of their first album, but it's still different.
The first thing worth noting is that the production is much improved. No longer do the drums severely overpower the guitars. They are still loud, but in a good way, and you can always tell what the guitars are doing, which is nice. Everything is just mixed better and sounds a lot better. I did enjoy the low production of the previous album to a certain extent, but I certainly prefer this.
The songwriting has changed a lot, but it's still weird enough to be worthy of the "experimental" term. The band doesn't abruptly change between heavy and soft anymore. Transitions are a thing now, and I really appreciate that. There is something cool to being caught off-guard by the music, and that was an enjoyable part of the first album, but having some kind of coherence is really nice. This album is, as I said before, much softer and atmospheric than the previous. Defiling the Serpent's Temple had its fair share of atmosphere and soft sections, but well over half of An Autumn Moon consists of that style rather than the metal. Once again, I personally like the fact that the band made the decision to do this, because I feel that they are better at writing the soft, atmospheric sections than the loud, metal parts. The riffs are less grindy this time around and have riffs that are more recognizable and sound like they were thought out a little more. The riffing is still very simplistic, and I will say that I would have been fine with a little more complexity, but it isn't too bad. Most songs feature one or two riffs that are repeated a lot, but I think it works because the rest of the music is interesting and captivating enough (this is mostly accomplished by the vocals and the atmosphere) that it creates a sort of entrancing effect, and repetition works well with that. The band would later go on to overuse repetition on Eternal Shores, but I'll save that for another review.
Although they changed their style a lot, it is still sufficiently bizarre. Some of the band's experiments include the entirely a capella "Deep in Darkness" (harsh vocals sans instruments), the weird, glitchy electronic noise at the end of "Suspended Above...I Weep Below", and the use of harsh vocals over what sounds like a ragtime piano in the title track. The album isn't quite as otherworldly as the previous one, but I think that toning down the experimentation a little was the right call.
Let's finally address the big thing about this that I haven't described in detail yet - the atmosphere. This album uses everything but the kitchen sink to create atmosphere. You have electronics, clean guitars, pianos, synths, acoustics, ambience, spoken/whispered vocals...the list could go on and on. Every song has at least some kind of atmosphere. The band uses this to create such an enthralling mood and evoke all kinds of emotions. The album is very sorrowful, but not in a bad and truly depressing way. This isn't DSBM, nor does it sound like it at all, but it has this somberness that is unmatched by anything else I've heard in the CBM scene, even Antestor's classic The Return of the Black Death. The album is structured masterfully. They wove interludes into the tracklist in just the right places. "Tears in the Forest", for example, is an entirely acoustic song accompanied by primitive clean vocals, and it perfectly fits where it is, right in the middle of the album. A couple more songs pass, and then the band does a part two of the same song, but this time fully metal, and using the same riffs. I love it when songs towards the end of an album borrow riffs from ones towards the beginning, but use them in a new way (in this case, electric rather than acoustic guitars). While that may seem lazy to some people, I think it ties the whole album together nicely. The emotional progression from beginning to end is very well done. The band begins with a mysterious mood, created by the ambient intro "Rainfall in the Grey Fields" (which might just be my favorite ambient track from any CBM album ever), descends into utter angst and sorrow by the time they reach "Despairium", and then ascends from the abyss with the lighthearted, piano- and spoken vocal-based closing track, "Sunrise Across the Grey Fields". I usually don't like it when albums end very lightheartedly and with a soft song, but I think OMW nailed it with this one. I think I recall reading somewhere that a friend of the band actually wrote the last track for them, and I think that's really neat. This is an album that is great to listen to outside while walking around at night during autumn. I highly recommend doing that at some point on a night where you feel chill and a little down. I know it may sound like a silly idea, but trust me, if you like this kind of music, it's a great experience.
An Autumn Moon was an excellent improvement from O, Majestic Winter, and it is a unique album that I won't forget. I don't listen to it super often because I have to be in the right mood, but when I am, man, this music is phenomenal.
91/100
-CrimsonWarrior
Sadly, physical copies of this have become rare too.
The album is available digitally on both iTunes and Amazon if I recall correctly, so you should definitely buy it there if you can't track down a physical copy.
Year: 2009
Genre: Atmospheric Experimental Black Metal
After the loud and heavy grindfest that was Defiling the Serpent's Temple, you wouldn't expect OMW to turn to such a softer sound on their next album, especially considering that it was released in the same year as the debut. Yet for some reason, they did, and I am very happy about that. An Autumn Moon is quite different from its predecessor. You'll still find gritty, raw, and strange black metal here, but it's mixed in with some very thick and persistent atmosphere and a new writing style that involves a lot of repetition. You can tell it's still the same band, and when the metal does shine through, you'll hear parts that will remind you of their first album, but it's still different.
The first thing worth noting is that the production is much improved. No longer do the drums severely overpower the guitars. They are still loud, but in a good way, and you can always tell what the guitars are doing, which is nice. Everything is just mixed better and sounds a lot better. I did enjoy the low production of the previous album to a certain extent, but I certainly prefer this.
The songwriting has changed a lot, but it's still weird enough to be worthy of the "experimental" term. The band doesn't abruptly change between heavy and soft anymore. Transitions are a thing now, and I really appreciate that. There is something cool to being caught off-guard by the music, and that was an enjoyable part of the first album, but having some kind of coherence is really nice. This album is, as I said before, much softer and atmospheric than the previous. Defiling the Serpent's Temple had its fair share of atmosphere and soft sections, but well over half of An Autumn Moon consists of that style rather than the metal. Once again, I personally like the fact that the band made the decision to do this, because I feel that they are better at writing the soft, atmospheric sections than the loud, metal parts. The riffs are less grindy this time around and have riffs that are more recognizable and sound like they were thought out a little more. The riffing is still very simplistic, and I will say that I would have been fine with a little more complexity, but it isn't too bad. Most songs feature one or two riffs that are repeated a lot, but I think it works because the rest of the music is interesting and captivating enough (this is mostly accomplished by the vocals and the atmosphere) that it creates a sort of entrancing effect, and repetition works well with that. The band would later go on to overuse repetition on Eternal Shores, but I'll save that for another review.
Although they changed their style a lot, it is still sufficiently bizarre. Some of the band's experiments include the entirely a capella "Deep in Darkness" (harsh vocals sans instruments), the weird, glitchy electronic noise at the end of "Suspended Above...I Weep Below", and the use of harsh vocals over what sounds like a ragtime piano in the title track. The album isn't quite as otherworldly as the previous one, but I think that toning down the experimentation a little was the right call.
Let's finally address the big thing about this that I haven't described in detail yet - the atmosphere. This album uses everything but the kitchen sink to create atmosphere. You have electronics, clean guitars, pianos, synths, acoustics, ambience, spoken/whispered vocals...the list could go on and on. Every song has at least some kind of atmosphere. The band uses this to create such an enthralling mood and evoke all kinds of emotions. The album is very sorrowful, but not in a bad and truly depressing way. This isn't DSBM, nor does it sound like it at all, but it has this somberness that is unmatched by anything else I've heard in the CBM scene, even Antestor's classic The Return of the Black Death. The album is structured masterfully. They wove interludes into the tracklist in just the right places. "Tears in the Forest", for example, is an entirely acoustic song accompanied by primitive clean vocals, and it perfectly fits where it is, right in the middle of the album. A couple more songs pass, and then the band does a part two of the same song, but this time fully metal, and using the same riffs. I love it when songs towards the end of an album borrow riffs from ones towards the beginning, but use them in a new way (in this case, electric rather than acoustic guitars). While that may seem lazy to some people, I think it ties the whole album together nicely. The emotional progression from beginning to end is very well done. The band begins with a mysterious mood, created by the ambient intro "Rainfall in the Grey Fields" (which might just be my favorite ambient track from any CBM album ever), descends into utter angst and sorrow by the time they reach "Despairium", and then ascends from the abyss with the lighthearted, piano- and spoken vocal-based closing track, "Sunrise Across the Grey Fields". I usually don't like it when albums end very lightheartedly and with a soft song, but I think OMW nailed it with this one. I think I recall reading somewhere that a friend of the band actually wrote the last track for them, and I think that's really neat. This is an album that is great to listen to outside while walking around at night during autumn. I highly recommend doing that at some point on a night where you feel chill and a little down. I know it may sound like a silly idea, but trust me, if you like this kind of music, it's a great experience.
An Autumn Moon was an excellent improvement from O, Majestic Winter, and it is a unique album that I won't forget. I don't listen to it super often because I have to be in the right mood, but when I am, man, this music is phenomenal.
91/100
-CrimsonWarrior
Sadly, physical copies of this have become rare too.
The album is available digitally on both iTunes and Amazon if I recall correctly, so you should definitely buy it there if you can't track down a physical copy.