The Serpents Lust

Australia's wealthy underground resources are overwhelming. Hunters Moon appeared on the surface in 2009. Gifted with a solid portion of musicianship, they attacked with the here presented six tracks. Well, if one subtracts the intro, the outro and the cover version, three tracks remain and they constitute heart and soul of this output.

Hunters Moon, whose line-up consists of (ex-) members of Denouncement Pyre, combine battle lust, inexorability and a pinch of desperation. As soon as the music starts, a blood red dawn appears in front of the inner eye and nonchalance is just a distant memory. The waiver of high speed fosters the cruel element which is inherent in the system of Hunters Moon and the focus on a relatively small number of riffs leads to almost hypnotizing soundscapes. A slightly bitter taste comes up, while the duo, which gets support from a session drummer, draws the listener slowly but steadily deeper into the songs. In particular "A Light in the Abyss", which seems to be heavily influenced by some mid-paced tracks of Immortal, and the title track, also equipped with a well-hung riff which has been imported from Blashyrkh, possess a high degree of negativity. The conjuring lead vocals complete the musical aura perfectly. This also goes for the third own regular track, which shows no signs of weakness as well.

No, the anti-religious artwork does not promise too much. The band has created a black, bubbling brew that leaves no room for hope or happiness. Unfortunately, the cover version of Angel Witch does not work. The Australian guys have made the wrong choice. "Baphomet" from the year 1978 may have lyrics that fit the concept of Hunters Moon, but its primitive line at the beginning, the uninspired chorus and the painfully outmoded solo serve as evidence that heavy metal was still in its infancy at the time of the original recording. On the positive side, this track does not hurt the profound blackness of the entire EP. It is just simply weaker than the remaining tracks.

The earthy, slightly filthy production makes clear that Hunters Moon did not have the intention to offer their material in a virtuoso manner. The more or less conventional song patterns confirm that the band members appreciate effective structures more than any kind of technical arrogance. Honestly, I like this mentality. Hence I can recommend this disc with good conscience. Only these maniacs who think that "Transylvanian Hunger" lacked of velocity will blame the here presented output for its lameness. Yet I guess this is only a small minority. However, too bad that the formation never released a successor. Fortunately, we can comfort ourselves with the fantastic albums of Denouncement Pyre.

Musical ability, technicality, and heaviness are key for survival in the fickle, dog-eat-God metal world, but what’s not quite noticed as often but is still needed to stick out from the rest of the pack is IDENTITY. For plentiful listeners and fans you need to find that little something that makes you different enough to garner plentiful bouts of attention. Far too many bands fall through the cracks by being too similar to what’s seen as an acceptable norm and blending into the background while other acts roam free.

Such is the case of Hunter's Moon.

At first listen it seems as though Hunter's Moon seems quite unsure of what kind of sound they want…death metal vocals coupled with mid-tempo thrash metal riffing and performance that combine into a confliction of ideas and musical argument versus any kind of cohesive compilation. To that end there really isn’t anything in “The Serpent’s Lust” that made me do a double take or believe these guys have something original on their hands; just plodding, middle-of-the-road jamming and bashing the likes of which could comes off as amateurish. The group, as a whole, seems quite earnest with their performance and what they want to come across musically; the guitar/bass combination shows more than a modicum of talent and ability involved, but once the death vocals and the basic two-step percussion poundings start coming in it’s more detriment than a necessary listen. For better or worse I haven’t found much meat on the bones of this rather meandering repetition of an album, and I found myself skipping ahead half-way through each track until lo and behold, the ending came to be. However, a few riffs and moments here and there are still worth checking out, such as the opener “Deadly Paradise” and the title track, but when coupled with the weaker elements found on “The Raven’s Swoon” and “Baphomet” one may forget that these guys are trying to make these guys the a next big name in the metal underworld.

So in the end this didn’t do it for me. I’d applaud Hunter's Moon more if they had something more to say than simple riffs and croaks-a-plenty, and it’s my hope these guys find something wholly worthwhile to pursue. Until then I’ll look elsewhere. I tried, fellas, I really did.

Oh yeah, now that's the stuff. Hunters Moon comprises two members of Nocturnal Graves, and with such credentials, it's basically a no brainer: Just buy it. Hunters Moon is more of a Black Metal outfit; I can hear some hints of Bathory, Carpathian Forest and Immortal – this doesn't really sound like actual songs from these bands, but the influences are definitely audible. Heavy, dark, haunting compositions are served with an old school sauce devoid of any pretty sounds – just raw, pounding Black Metal with a slightly thrashy edge, low and raspy vocals which I find are quite similar to the ones in Carpathian Forest. Add to this a hint of the savageness found in Nocturnal Graves (hey, it's not like they could cut all links to that machine of metallic destruction now, could they? ;)) The guitars scream like there's no tomorrow on this puppy, fast, loud and shriek enough to clean out those ears of yours. Don't try to air guitar to this, you'll fuck yourself up (adapting one of Lemmy's signature phrases here…)

Not much to complain about here, save for the closer which is just a quiet instrumental outro – this would fit better on a full-length, here it just feels like it's stealing two minutes off a release that you wish was twice the length. And then there's said length: Only 21 minutes? I want a full-length album and I want it now. Recommended.

Black metal bands from down under seem to be making waves in the international music scene. Hunters Moon, a two-man project with a session drummer, is one of these who has broken out of the Southern Hemisphere and brought their music up North. Formed by members of the bands Nocturnal Grave and Denouncement Pyre, Hunters Moon tries to stay firmly in the realm of black metal but adds a slight black thrash element for flavoring.

Grandiose guitar riffs and heavy drums are not enough to save this EP though, and a little bit more refining is needed before they will be able to pull off a full length album. The music is easy and enjoyable, but there just seems to be a certain unmeasurable quality that many other bands have and Hunters Moon seems to be somewhat lacking: the vocals just don’t pair up with the music.

To give the band some credit, they are all very decent musicians. But (and I hate to single one person out of the band in this manner), vocalist Lust is almost to the point of being mismatched with the music, and his vocals would be much better suited to songs written similarly to “Baphomet.” In short - the vocals reduce the music’s promise, not meshing with the music save on the one track. I found myself enjoying the two instrumental tracks “Deadly Praise,” and “Last Rights” much more than anything else on the album. A very unfortunate thing for a band that would have a lot of potential if they can get their act together.

The album starts out with a short but mellow intro track, and then proceeds into the track “A Light in the Abyss,” possibly the strongest song on the entire EP. The problem with the next track, “The Ravens Swoon,” is that it sounds too much like the track before it. It might as well have been part of the previous track or titled “Light in the Abyss Part 2.” While “The Ravens Swoon” does have a catchy rhythm line, neither of these first two songs stands out very much from one another.

“Baphomet,” is the band’s saving grace, thrashing its way in and helping itself to your girlfriend and beer. It’s a good party track and makes the disc worth the listen. This song is fast and borderline thrashy, and more songs like this would make the band a little bigger and more fun to listen to. The title track “The Serpents Lust” tries to continue the party feeling of “Baphomet” but falls just short of its goal. The only real standout in the song is the guitar solo about halfway through. Finally, “Last Rites” slows it down with another mellow instrumental, beefing it up midway with an impressive guitar solo that adds to the overall enjoyment of the track.

For being described as an “epic” black metal band, Hunters Moon’s music seems somewhat watered-down, like they are holding back. Lyrically they are very strong, and their words paint very vivid scenes of the Devil and Hell, but the music doesn’t mesh with the lyrics very well. I would also note that the vocalist sounds somewhat like former vocalist of Marduk, Legion, which made the album somewhat interesting to listen to. With fifty percent of the album being good and the other half being ho-hum, it might be worthwhile to watch how these Aussies progress with their coming releases. I hesitate to call them “promising,” but with some improvement they may become noteworthy.

by Kesh Butler, contributor from Metal Psalter Webzine
http://www.metalpsalter.com

Orginal Article:
http://www.metalpsalter.com/review_hunters_moon_the_serpents_lust.html

The Serpent's Lust is the debut release by the Black Metal act Hunters Moon. This six track EP is a very nostalgic one, clearly taking a heady music influence from the band Bathory, the only exception being that this is moreso about demons, lyrically, then it is of Vikings and other such related topics. But, how good is the band's material, considering it consists of one intro track, and even a cover song, leaving only four originals to make an impact on the listener.

Well, right off the bat the introductory track "Deadly Paradise" really doesn't do much at all for the release, just being a guitar with some haunting keyboards that are probably used to try to set the mood for the release, but sadly doesn't. Had the song flowed into the next track, "A Light in the Abyss", then it might have worked in the band's favor, but instead just fades out and leaves a brief period of silence before the next track kicks in. But, really, that's the only downfall to this EP. Aside that first track, the band's original material is actually really good. The songs are solid, working at a mid-tempo, sometimes getting a little faster then that, and incorporate a lot of the old-school Black Metal sound with riffs that give off the feeling that you would be going to war, or into some sort of fight at least, with a veryu suiting epic feel to them. The best representation of this would have to be the title track "The Serpent's Lust" which will have you banging your head right away, as well as searching for a lighter to strike as if in memory of fallen warriors.

The only track that doesn't keep this feel would be the Angel Witch cover "Baphomet". While this is an excellent cover in the band's own style of music, and the guitar solo is just as impressive as the original, the problem is that the song conflicts with the overall sound of the album and would have best been tacked onto the end of the album and considered a "bonus track", or scrapped all together for a future release that would require such a track to be placed on it. Even though the song itself kind of interrupts the flow of the release, the somewhat raw recording quality still makes the song sound as good as the others, making this an enjoyable track regardless.

If the material presented on The Serpents Lust is any indication of the future efforts by Hunters Moon, then this is obviously a band to keep an eye on. This EP is well constructed and filled with exceptional music that is epic in atmosphere, without going over the top musically like many acts who claim to be epic. With the exception of an introduction track that doesn't do much for the release, and an out of place cover song, The Serpent's Lust is still an amazing EP effort that any Black Metal fan will greatly appreciate.

Originally posted on Apoch's Metal Review
www.apochs.net

Hunters Moon are the relatively recent project of one J. Eradicator and a man who goes by the name of Lust, members of Aussie bands Denouncement Pyre and Nocturnal Graves, two other bands whom have yet to make any great waves in the underground. Like those other two bands Hunters Moon are based primarily in the black metal field but unlike the others here we are looking at a Bathory-inspired 'epic' black metal style, defined by the echoing and reverbing guitar sound that Quorthon himself used to great effect around the time of "Under The Sign Of The Black Mark" and "Blood Fire Death". Being an EP of just 21 minutes there is not much time to fully study Hunters Moon's style but in mixing prime era Bathory with epic influences from Primordial, Morrigan and Deströyer 666 the end result is certainly greater than anticipated.

The mixing of Bathory and Deströyer 666 dominates through tracks like "A Light In The Abyss" and the title track "The Serpents Lust" (not good on apostrophes are this band), being black metal in name but far from typically black metal in nature. The performance may not be ground-breaking but with the length of the EP as it is tracks like these carry enough weight to warrant their very existence, still being very much listenable and a few spins of the EP. Unlike Morrigan who made the career choice to closely stick to the Bathory sound, Hunters Moon are more than mere clones of the Swedish God, a fact which is best marked in the closing "Last Rites", a short Primordial influenced instrumental that could lead the band down an intriguing direction should they decide to exploit this feeling further on future releases.

"The Serpents Lust" EP doesn't want for much and doesn't take much in return, but in it's very simplistic nature and quasi-Bathory ways its retains an endearing element, giving me the sense that I like it more than it's actual merited worth and will be rather tempted to give it a quick spin occasionally now this review is completed.

Originally written for Rockfreaks.net

Hunters Moon is a newish project from two members of Nocturnal Graves. Like most releases through Hells Headbangers Records, you know it will involve something decidedly old school and delicious. In the case of Hunters Moon, they have essentially created a successful 'Bathory Down Under' vibe. Epic rhythms to slay by, light touches of atmosphere, leads that are laid well back in the mix and glorious melodies. However, thematically, this material is focused on Hell rather than Vikings.

The acoustics of "Deathly Paradise" echo over some forsaken battlefield before "A Light in the Abyss", a formidable epic that wouldn't have been out of place on Blood Fire Death save for the gruffer vocals and the difference in lyrical concept. "The Ravens Swoon" continues the bombast with crashing drums and a nice opening lead which burns to the soul. Again, it really recaptures that rare essence of "A Fine Day to Die". "Baphomet" is totally kick ass, with a huge, filthy groove to it. The title track is another glorious march, and the tranquil acoustics of "Last Rites" close out the EP.

'The Serpent's Lust' is suitably raw and entertaining, with material that is wholly consistent. If you're an old fan of the prototypes that created black metal in the 90s (Bathory and to a lesser extent Possessed or Venom), this EP will speak volumes to you. Good music, by fans, for fans. I eagerly await a full-length release.