SECRETS OF THE MOON - Black House
June 28, 2020, 4 years ago
(Lupus Lounge)
Germany’s Secrets Of The Moon has certainly come a long way from their black metal beginnings. On their seventh album, Black House, the quartet continues their dive into gothic rock and metal with only a subtle hint of their past sound.
Relying much on atmospherics, the only conjuration of something even remotely close to black metal are parts of “He Is Here”, most notably the main riff in the mid-section and the beginning bass thumping to open the track. Light, depressive guitars contribute to the most up-tempo tunes like opener “Sanctum” and closer “Earth Hour”, while “Veronica’s Room” is the catchiest of the bunch with flowing guitar chords as singer Phil Jones doesn’t exert himself with the notes, but floats along with broodiness and a slithering of angst. “Don’t Look Now” inserts keys and a backing female voice and resembles The Cure mixed with Type O Negative; a quirky track, but a grower. The Germans slow the proceedings down on the downtrodden “Cotard”, acoustic begun “Heart”, and the lounging “Mute God”. Not particularly heavy aside from a few, brief, moments, the drumming is the heaviest aspect of Black House, especially in the building moments of “Mute God” and “Don’t Look Now”. Inconsistent songwriting along with the dragging longer tunes prevent this from greatness, but gloomy rockers like the aforementioned “Sanctum”, “Earth Hour”, and “Veronica’s Room” are worthy additions to the band’s catalogue.
