Moon Oracle (FIN) – Muse of the Nightside LP

Black Metal

MOON ORACLE was formed by Sûrya-Ishtara and U after spending years searching for their own sound with previous bands. Later on, Harald Mentor was asked to fill the role of vocalist, knowing his abilities from such acts as Ride for Revenge, Incriminated and Uskonrauha, among many others. Thus formed, MOON ORACLE began their first recording in earnest.

Now, that first recording arrives in nearly full-length form with the 26-minute Muse of the Nightside. Aptly titled, Muse of the Nightside reveals MOON ORACLE as astute auctioneers of pure-yet-idiosyncratic metal, equally informed by archaic black metal and eldritch doom, all bass-heavy crunge and wild tribal drumming. And yet, these essentially lunar reflections stem from the need to reiterate their darker, violent energies into expressive form: intense, irascible, derelict, dire. Sonically, then, the album explores that battleground between the Id and the Ego – barbaric primitivism ripped asunder and reshaped into ghoulishly avant-garde shapes.