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Crimson Moon have not released a proper album in like 12 years – not since the splendid Under the Serpentine Spell in 2005. This has always been a famously cult band, and their discography of compilations, splits, Eps, and demos outnumbers their proper albums, which now number a whopping three after a 20-year career.

Crimson Moon hold high the banner of melodic, occult, obscure Black Metal. This album is less driven by keys than their old works, and so it sounds murkier, with a production job that is probably a little too clean for them. To my thinking, occult Black Metal cannot sound murky enough. This is still an album full of long songs beset with atonal riffs, dark atmosphere, and vocals that vary between shrieks, mutters, chants, and intonations of evil whatever. This band defiantly keeps the "black" in Black Metal with their esoteric, obtuse lyrics, heavily peppered with phrases in Latin, Greek, and Babylonian, referencing a stew of dark mythologies. This is a band that takes their occultism seriously, not just screaming about Satan to draw attention to themselves.

So, after more than a decade, I am glad to find this band not only still kicking, but remaining true to their sound and their roots. A dense, unfriendly album for fans of deeply occult Black Metal.