Secrets Of The Moon
Strength Of The Inviolables
[Sombre]


I believe this band are ex-Martyrium (or at least the vocalist is) and hence there's a lot of abstract elements here that are probably going to be hated by most. Secrets of the Moon have gained some notoriety lately on account of an upcoming tour with Inquisition, Krieg and Godless North which was supposedly organized by Andy of Judas Iscariot (I'm not sure on that one either, if someone wants to write me the precise facts I would be much obliged) and scheduled throughout Germany. Strength of the Inviolables is a limited edition LP of 200 copies succeeding a few demo tapes and a split with Lunar Aurora that is a much darker portrayal of the band's sound than the previous releases and also much more experimental - the strength behind this project seems to be increasing rapidly and I'm heavily anticipating the upcoming releases.

As was the case with Martyrium, the music itself is generally raw and sloppy in the old German sound, somewhat similar to Ungod, and there are many slow and revolving "spheric" moments that give the recording a cold and subliminal feel. Also like Martyrium, the vocals are simply fucking bizarre; I can't think of a better way to describe the overly astral quality here than "cosmically reverberating," and the sparse and hollow production only escalates the peculiarity. SotM are much more solid than the aforementioned band however and I'm not getting the same feeling that sometimes the instruments are playing with absolutely no correlation to one another whatsoever (although I sort of liked that), nor is the drumming completely off time and chaotic, which I'm still not sure whether or not was intentional. This has a rather unique absorbing quality and I'd encourage anyone to at least listen.

Moments will probably remind you of Nastrond's Toteslaut. There's a method to the madness here and I'm looking forward to the upcoming split with Inquisition.


© 2001 hando