Review: Lune – Wild Lands of the North

Review by Nihilist

Lune – Wild Lands of the North

Record Label: Independent

Year: 2020

Rating: 8/10

When most of us approach a release we like to see where the artist(s) is/are from, but in this case, it is unknown, So from the beginning of the album we can’t really expect anything, nor can we suspense what the influences might be. Then let’s together dwell in the beauty of this mysterious album and see what Lune is all about. Very early on, within a few minutes, it becomes clear that we are going to listen to a celebration of sorrow, the infamous glory of depression and a huge spectrum of negative emotions. The perfectly blended Doom/Atmospheric Black Metal, in its slow rhythm possesses us, embraces us, and takes us far into the Wild Lands of the North where we’ll be left stranded and only able to hear the screams of one M, who does all the music and lyrics on this release, and those screams promise you nothing but sorrow for the 47 minutes to come, which is the length of this 5 track album.

Lune

What appeals to me, even though there are lyrical themes unknown as well, is that those lyrics aren’t blasphemous. Or at least I don’t picture them as such while listening to M’s music. And on another level of creativity, to make the fusion of Black Metal and Doom Metal you must know 100% what you’re doing. And M did everything right. This is just done by the book. With aggressive transitions from slower parts of the song (like we can hear on the second track “Night Wander” to the faster pace, to even blast beats at one point, miraculously blended in, and in that point, it doesn’t lack the aggressive feeling that Black Metal should always have; he is in pain and he expresses all aspects of it, from feeling low in Doom parts to one step close to suicide in Black Metal parts. And each song offers you that spectrum of feelings, from being depressed, sad and down to being angry as fuck, displeased by the vanity of human nature, blaming the Creator for giving us a “gift” of life.

Doom riffage is extremely heavy and definitely the best surprise on this album. In the transitions with Doomy drumming with faster riffing, I can not think that Agalloch might have been a huge influence behind this mysterious project. During the entire album, there’s a nicely done synth background to fill in the sound, but I’m not sure that it was needed, maybe it would be for the best without the keyboards, to leave it be as raw as emotions that this release generates. The third song “A Dying Star” starts off with faster-paced riffing building up the energy and getting louder and introducing us to the drums that follow it nicely and ambiance that resembles as if you, in your thinking of the end of life have already reached the stars and M’s vocal in the distance is the only human you can hear that narrates you through dark realms of your mind. Then there’s a pause for the ambiance to be created yet again by synths, and when guitars step in, with a distinguishing melody being played on the synth and hopeless vocals we step into a really Depressive Black Metal aspect of this album, and if you dwell into this album and listen to it seriously enough this is the moment when you’d most likely shed a tear. As it fastens, not leaving the DSBM manner behind, we are completely lost, there is nothing dear to hold on to. There is nothing even real enough to hold onto in a voyage through the dark paths of your mind. By the fourth song “Sapphire Sky” we are still listening to jaw-dropping DSBM. If you’ve never been just a step from committing suicide, then listen to this song. It pretty much explains what is the mindset right before you slit your wrists or jump off a cliff. And there’s a break-in song where M let his guitars sing with extremely slow, I’m talking Sunn O))) kind of slow, drumming where you see the blood-shedding from your arms or feel the first rush of air after jumping off a cliff, and then the tempo fastens again as your life flashes before your eyes, guitars are disturbing as you don’t know what will be awaiting you in the next few seconds, but the melody on synths is soothing, saying “It’s done now, you have nothing to fear”. And in the last ten minutes we can hear basically the sum-up of this album in a song “Wild Lands of the North” with hard blast beating and riff cold as fuck, which eventually die down a little, to give us a hint of that Doom atmosphere and the synths play a significant role in this part of the song in creating a melody that is cheery for some reason, only for the cheery spell to break when in a moment, music becomes Atmospheric Black Metal again.

So, all in all, this is a perfect blend of DSBM, Atmospheric Black Metal and Doom Metal. What ruined it for me a bit is the (over)usage of synths, but that is subjective, I like it Raw. And also, not knowing the lyrical themes is a huge minus for me, because this way I can only guess what the artist had in mind when he wrote the music and lyrics, hence this is why the release will get a bit lower rating than it maybe deserves, but I urge you to listen to this album, there is so much to hear, and put your boots on, because the voyage is the one through the unknown, dark and muddy sewers of your mind.

Good luck traveler!

Lune – Wild Lands of the North (Full Album)