Lunar Manifesto

I remember finding this album probably two to three years ago. I forget what I was listening to beforehand, but I clicked on something that was recommended on YouTube: "Dark of the Day" by Semblant. I remember quite liking it, so I bought it along with "What Lies Ahead", "Incinerate", "Mists Over the Future", and "The Shrine". I didn't listen to any other song, I was content with this batch. So, how did it age? How was the rest of the album?

I'll get it out of the way before anything else. This album isn't great. By the end, I was so happy just to be done with it. If every song lived up to the heights that "Incinerate" set, dare I say it, it'd be a 10 out of 10. I really do mean that. Unfortunately, nope. They don't do that.

Let's first talk about the vocals... It's tough to say exactly what was done right and what was done wrong here. Sergio Mazul is the male vocalist, and he has such an incredible range. From banshee-like screams to low growls that sound pretty damn good, even to clean singing, and also shouts. Aside from the shouts, which suck, they all sound great. He does the former two much more in the front half of the album, but "Mists Over the Future" is the last song which has any of that. So that just leaves his clean vocals, and... See, they're really good in small doses, but when that's his primary contribution, you get sick of it quickly. They aren't as bad as his shouts, and considering what he *can* do, yeah, what the fuck was the point here? Then you have Mizuho Lin, and she only does clean vocals. See, they sound pretty good, for the most part, at least on the front half of the album. Sometimes they sounded stock and forced, but it was few and far between. But for over half of the album, that's not the case, and it made me wish that we only had Sergio... At least the one that had the balls to scream and growl in addition to his clean singing. They're surprisingly talented singers when they really put their heart into it, and when they do, they sound excellent. But when they don't (And they didn't for half the album), it makes you want to weep in frustration because "Hey, I listened to the first half and it sounded really good, surely it gets better by the second! I've already come this far, I mighas well finish!" If this is your thought process, I will tell you now: It doesn't get better, please put the album down for your own sake. For whatever reason, I bought the only good songs all those years back. Past me was either incredibly smart or incredibly lucky.

The guitarwork tends to play it on the safe side, and that's aggravating as fuck because *sometimes* the two guitarists actually take risks or get creative, and you know what happens when they do? It sounds fucking phenomenal. Granted, they put heart into it much more often than the vocalists, and all of the instrumentation carries that second half, but just barely. The drumming is also really good, for the most part, but again, Thor's best performance is easily on "Incinerate", where he plays like a god. Hell, they all do. Even the bassist does.

I'll just jump into the songs now. "Incinerate" is easily the best song on the album, and it's up there with the greats of melodeath songs. I really do mean that. Everyone's talent is on full display, and they put their hearts and souls into it. Even if you hate "Dark of the Day" and "What Lies Ahead" (And fair enough, the latter song didn't age quite as well), do yourself a favor and listen to the opening track. "Mists Over the Future" is easily another highlight. Everyone gets a little creative here, save for Mizuho, though her vocals do sound pretty damn good, so no creativity's needed. Sergio gets two fantastic piercing screams on the album, one on "Dark of the Day", and another here. The latter one is so fucking good, I straight up can't understand the words as it goes into something that just sounds... Wavy, in lack of better words. It's something you'd have to hear for yourself, it's around the 4:30 mark in "Mists Over the Future". I know some might get annoyed by his highs, but I love them. "The Shrine" and "Ode to Rejection" have fantastic instrumentals, but man are they let down by the vocals. Sergio's fine in the former, but they're both shit in the latter. Meanwhile, "Selfish Liar" could've had some fantastic instrumentals (The vocals were a lost cause), the guitarists restrain themselves too much. The some fucking begs for some balls. Also, since I don't know where else to mention it, the lyrics are fucking laughable. I don't mean in one song, I mean in the whole album. Pretty sure they were just 'okay' on "Incinerate", but man is there no substance anywhere else.

But let's talk about the bad songs. Come on, after all the bashing I did, I'm clearly going to rip on something in the second half of the album. Nope. While, sure, all of them are pretty bad once "Mists Over the Future" ends (No, seriously, I didn't enjoy any of the subsequent songs), none of them are the worst. Okay, so it's "What Lies Ahead", right? Also nope. Sure, it's commercial as fuck, but I can respect it and recommend it to fans of Lacuna Coil (And I'm one of the people, to be fair). But there's one song that is just an absolute abomination. It should have never made the cut. It's "Bursting Open". Nothing about the song is even remotely good. There is nothing good to say. The song is lazy in every single way, and it just sounds like radio garbage that would be played at 3 AM when nobody's listening just because "Hey, it fits the hour". This song is too safe even for Lacuna Coil, Amaranthe, or even modern In This Moment- At least before Mother. Fuck that album. "Bursting Open" is the song that is perfect material for a single: It's safe, it's only clean vocals, there's even a little piano part that would sound nice if Mizuho wasn't singing over it, but... It's also that song that sucks too much to be a single. It doesn't even know if it's trying to be radio material or a ballad, but it fails at both. It fails at everything it's trying to do. Hell, "What Lies Ahead" succeeds at what this song tried to do. Fuck this song, it never should've made the album, I wish I could get those four minutes of my life back. Sure, the second half of the album all blends in together and has few redeemable moments, but at least it has that. At least all of that combined still isn't as bad as "Bursing Open". Song's one of the most inane pieces of garbage I've ever fucking heard, and that pisses me off even more considering "Incinerate" and "Mists Over the Future".

I'd love to rate this album below 40%, but there are some good songs in the first half. "Incinerate" is a shining star, and it shows that this band is capable of absolute greatness. It is one of the best things I've ever heard, and that pisses me off so much considering the other shit that's on here. "Mists Over the Future" is also phenomenal, it's another wonderful song through and through. It barely falls short of "Incinerate", but it's so very easily the second-best song on the album. The thing is that, for the most part, everyone phones it in for the rest of the album. You could cut 6-7 of the songs (Give or take "What Lies Ahead"), and you would have such a magnificent melodeath EP on your hands. But instead, the band took a bar of gold, smeared it with shit, and melted it down. That's the feeling I get here. I was much more generous that the previous 35% here, but that's only because "Incinerate" and "Mists Over the Future" are just that good. If it wasn't for those two songs, I'd actually give it a 35% as well.

But hey, at least fans of the band wouldn't wait six years for an even worse album. Right? Haha... Ha...

God fucking damn it, Semblant.

Songs to Recommend: "Incinerate", "Dark of the Day", "The Shrine", "Mists Over the Future"
Songs to Avoid: "Bursting Open", Every song after "Mists Over the Future"

Also, I didn't really know where else to say this, but they made a comic series that was based off of this album in that six year gap. It's called Blood Chronicles, and although I wish I could tell you guys if it's good or not, I haven't read it.