Égforrás

Hungarian metal will chiefly be remembered for the notorious Attica Csihar and his offspring Tormentor, the black metal innovators. The man never forgot about his homeland after joining the legends Mayhem, and has made regular contributions to the scene over there taking part in several outfits like Korog, etc. However, if one wants to learn more about Hungarian thrash, this artist’s legacy has not much to offer I’m afraid, especially when it comes to the more technical/progressive side of it. After some serious digging, one should come up with the demos of the veterans The Bedlam offering interesting, sophisticated progressive thrash; Sackrace would require more dedicated excavation work, but their only opus “Palm in the Fist” (1997) is a really great slab of quite stylish modern mechanical rifforamas; the futuristic bleak landscapes of Watch My Dying should be no secret to the more initiated; and bits of pieces of Archaic’s only opus so far “Time Has Come to Envy the Dead” (2006). And that’s about it.

However, the picture wouldn’t be complete if we don’t add the name of the band under scrutiny here. And not only but Moon of Soul are the most regular practitioners of the progressive aspect of our favourite metal from the country with three full-lengths and one EP under their belt at this stage. We will take a closer look at their debut here which arrived after two fairly strong demos the band not hiding their fascination with the more complex, more thought-out side of the genre. “Vegtelen Hetedik Szeme” reveals a lot of lyricism with a breath-taking balladic intro which is replaced by hard steel riffs the band shredding with precision in a steady unwavering mid-pace which still provides plenty of dynamics, those strictly belonging to the classic canons. “Egfeletti Merules” is a psychedelic diverser with another quiet inauguration the singer showing his more emotional side as opposed to his dominant less melodic semi-clean baritone; a lot of drama pours from this cut with the softer and the more aggressive sections crossing each other’s paths the whole time. “Fellegforras” is a razor-sharp shredder with technical rhythms galore weaving a puzzling acrobatic pattern after another with balladic beauties standing on the side, adding more spice to the dense entangled atmosphere.

“Alkonyok Szava” is a more relaxed saga the band sticking to more linear semi-balladic heaviness without any flashy experiments; but “Egvonzas” begs to differ with the most aggressive passages on the album although the trademark serene interludes aren’t spared contrasting with the impetuous hard thrashing around. “Vilagdal” is a creepy varied mid-pacer which brooding riffage tries to find its way through the maze of balladic, meditative strokes; and “Sarkanytegnap” is a semi-galloping delight with jarring sterile formulas quenching all attempts at more melodic ways of expression, only giving a chance to the lead guitarist for a nice brash showing as a finale. “Lidercvizmadar” is a great technical piece with overlapping guitars which win their battle with the balladic disturbances for most of the time leaving the middle for more lyrical deviations.

One may get slightly annoyed by the overabundance of calmer romantic build-ups which grace every song, but this is a deeply atmospheric recording which wouldn’t have been as effective without them. The guys are not out there to please the hard-boiled thrash metal fanbase in the first place, and if one pays more attention to this contrasting co-existence he/she will agree that it works for most of the time without weighing too much on the peaceful side. Still, it would by all means be also interesting to those who sleep with the works of Symphony X, Andromeda, Conception, and Pagan’s Mind under their pillows.

A follow-up was imminent if the guys wanted to keep their high, intelligent profile, and two years later “Titokszulo” was a fact. The mellower moments had been increased, though, and the melodic/aggressive blend wasn’t achieved as well this time leaving thrash hanging in the balance awkwardly for at least half the time. “Ebredes” (2007) took care of the problem by removing it from the equation almost completely replacing it with doomy and gothic elements, the band sounding like other more conventional atmospheric progressive metal practitioners. Then a huge hiatus of ten years followed suit before the guys reminded of themselves with the “Vilagteremto” EP which is a diverse offering trying to cover a wide gamut of moods and influences on a not very large space. It’s not bad at all, by the way, showing the band still capable of producing intriguing psychedelic progressive metal; and it can’t be any other way as long as they continue following the swings of the Moon and the voices of their souls.