Full Moon

There are many odd corners of metal that are largely unexplored by bands and fans alike. Full Moon inhabit one of these. Way too late for NWOBHM or space rock and totally wrong for power or thrash or death or doom popularity, Full Moon were more or less fucked from the beginning, especially considering the UK was hardly a hotbed of even the most orthodox traditional metal in the latter half of the 80s, stadium bands aside.

That said, they’re actually pretty good. They play a rather laid back style of rock/metal that takes large cues from progressive, psychedelic, and space rock as well as NWOBHM. At times I’m reminded of Hawkwind, at others Rush, still others, Budgie. The album cover actually gives you a pretty good idea of the sound, with majestic knights silhouetted against a red moon rising over ruins. It can be melancholic and wistful, delicate and contemplative, or angry and aggressive. This is all tied together by progressive and nonlinear but nonetheless quality songwriting, whether we’re talking the deliberate, heavy riffing of the opener “Time Machine” or the warm, solo-filled ballad “Awakening” that follows. “Highlander” brings us back to familiarly NWOBHM-ish territory with driving riffs, dual-leads, soaring vocals, and, uh, cowbell. Unfortunately I don’t think it paid for any gold-plated diapers. Singer John Killeen has a great voice with a warm tone, reminding me a bit of Kevin Nugent from Legend, or perhaps a more average NWOBHM singer with a good vocal coach. Andy Gregory on lead guitar does an excellent job and plays lengthy solos on most of the songs, at times giving me excellent Jerry Fogle flashbacks (near the end of “Highlander”), at others sounding way more spacey such as on the instrumental “Actious Selene”, where he plays a vast echoing solo over bass and sparse chords and wave-like sound effects. “Euphoric Dance” on the other hand showcases some of the most blatant effect pedal abuse I’ve heard in metal, which gives the whole song a great vibe, but it’s the epic vocals and solo saturation that cement it as one of my favorite tracks of the album.

“The Chequered Floor” goes in a bit of a different direction, being a plodding foot-stomper, probably the heaviest of the album, with distorted vocals further setting this song apart from the others. The quiet instrumental section builds tension while a gong sounds in the background (again bringing a Legend comparison), until finally we explode WHOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAA back into the heavy part and are again treated to a lengthy solo. This album has a hell of a lot of those. “Ninth Wave” has nothing to do with the Manilla Road track by the same name, but is rather a sprawling song that starts heavy and ends delicately.

It took me some years actually to warm up to Full Moon, mostly because I went in expecting something else, and shelved it because it wasn’t what I was looking for at the time. I remember complaining to a friend that it never really cashed in on the heaviness of that great opening riff; and honestly it rarely does (his complaint was that the album lacks a real climax, which is also true). Since then I’ve gained a much greater appreciation for rock and the softer sides of metal, and laid-back music in general for that matter. Full Moon is not an album for headbanging, it is an album for relaxing, and it is good at what it does. Perhaps paradoxically, the progressive songwriting and complex emotions and emotional shifts in evidence require a certain degree of intellectual engagement to “get”, so it probably wouldn’t be the sort of thing you’d want to smoke a joint to. Give Full Moon some time and effort, as I eventually did, and you will be rewarded, as I eventually was.