This Review is both for the band and for the album.
Band Name: Limbonic Art
Genre: Symphonic Black Metal
Tagline: If Beethoven was still alive then he would be playing in Limbonic Art.Brief History: The band formed in 1993 in Norway as a 3 member band. However, later on it became a 2 member band with the 2 members playing everything except the drums (drum programming).
Debut Album: Moon in the Scorpio.
Lyrical Theme: Darkness, Death, Space
Those damn Norwegians are good at basically anything, they started out as a Symphonic Black Metal band but later on after 2 or 3 albums they switched to old school black metal. All their work was magnificent. However, Moon in the Scorpio in my opinion was the cornerstone of their musical career and definitely it is one of those albums that will stick to you for all your life.
Review
First read the name out loud: MOON IN THE SCORPIO. The title alone can make you realize that these people aren’t the typical “Black Metal Band” not that typical Black Metal baAnds are bad but these guys attempted to do something new and I think they succeeded in doing so. Enough with the meaningless talk let me cut to the chase and start reviewing the album song by song and in brief but important details but first I would like you to check the album picture and get an idea of what the music must be like from the album cover.
The overall rating of the album is definitely a 5/5. This album is perfectly flawless and it flows very well and each song has its own feel to it although all of the songs somehow talk about the same theme.
Beneath the Burial Surface: The song starts out with a kind-of ambient sound and then the majestic keyboards introduce the song and it seems as if there is a HUGE orchestra playing that music when actually it is only 2 people. At 1:45 the keyboards take a higher volume and it seems as if the keyboards reach their peak and along with the slamming of the crash the listener will feel that the music is about to shift however that shift is very sudden but when that shift happens and when the whole music kicks in…HELL BREAKS LOOSE. The music is so captivating it is so fast yet slow at the same time, so extreme but yet so relaxing. The band knows how to play with people’s emotions and how to make them see things from their perspective. After 1 minute the amazing instrumental music slows down a bit and becomes lower in order to introduce to us the vocalist. The vocalist opens the song with: The sky is darkening soon the night befall. The music continues to become better and better and the vocals embrace the music so well and they never get annoying. The minute 7:15 marks the first LIMBONIC ART moment or the moment before the Limbonic Art moment. At 8:15 approximately the talent of Limbonic Art to mix symphonies with extreme music is depicted. For about 2 minutes or so the listener will experience a very wide mood shift, the music starts out with a happy feel to it afterwards there is a very faint guitar solo, for solo fanatics this solo isn’t a typical “shredding” solo, it is a slow solo but with a great feel to it. After that the music shifts and becomes very dark the keyboards soar over the whole atmosphere and they embrace the listener and it feels as if you are actually transcending to the sky above the “burial surface”. The music ends with a very angry and aggressive sound with screams of agony. After that there is an outro for about 2 minutes. The music ends but the synths remain, there is a very medieval feel to the outro and this short horror movie is accompanied by a bell with whispers and rain…the song ends with the same ambient sound…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9EgzjOpyRs
Moon in the Scorpio: The ambient sound again starts off the song…the ambient sound makes you feel as if you are going to another dimension or teleporting to other planets…the planets in this case are the songs. The song starts out with bells and then the vocals enter with a faint keyboard sound. The drums then enter slowly readying the listener to another ORGASMIC song. At 0:51 the music kicks in accompanied by laughter from the members, the instrumental music goes for about 2 minutes then the vocals enter the music. The keyboards on this song are somehow atmospheric, the music really make you feel as if you are looking at the moon in the Scorpio. There are two different Limbonic Art moments in this song the first one is at 3:39, I can’t describe what I feel when this “moment” kicks in. However, I can guarantee that the Goosebumps can. At 4:45 the song becomes somehow aggressive and the dark feel to the music reaches its peak. There is a faint keyboard sound in the background readying itself for the second Limbonic Art moment. This time it’s basically synths. At 6:09 the song completely shifts after the vocalist says: “the cold hands of divinity will tear our souls apart”. The music becomes very majestic again, for 2 minutes approximately the music stays the same with some minor shifts in them, these shifts being: screams and a solo. The song ends with an amazing solo leaving the listener breathless… Again the ambient sound reminds us that we are going to travel to another planet.
Through the Gleams of Death: The song starts with keyboards. Then the operatic vocals accompanied by harsh vocals introduce the song to us. After that the guitars enter the music and the drums as well. The music goes on for about 2 minutes and then the shift again…this time it’s an aggressive one, this is one of Limbonic Art’s aggressive songs on this album. There isn’t really much to say about this song but it’s definitely a good one, the song ends with a very calm music.
In Mourning Mystique: This is the most symphonic song on this album. Their orchestral talent is also very clear in this song since there is somewhat of a chorus in the background at the beginning of the song with a very symphonic feel to the music. The member’s clean vocal talents are also very clear in this song as well. After that orchestral moment the orgasmic music commences once more. This song is 14 minutes long and it needs a lot of patience to be understood, that is if you want to give this band a change, there are many different parts on this song and each part has a different mood attached to it. Again this is their most symphonic song on this album so this song is really different from the previous tracks. The song ends with a very depressive outro with screams being shrieked by the vocalist as if the vocalist is being tortured. The song ends with the same ambient sound…
Beyond the Candles Burning: Crows introduce the song this time, Crows of course signify the medieval times. This song sounds very medieval and somehow “Draculish”. The music starts out to be somehow atmospheric then the keyboards enter the music slowly working their way to the top. The drums also enter the atmosphere and the keyboard sound starts shifting readying the listener to the introduction of the song with all its elements. Then the aggressiveness of the music shifts the whole mood of the music, the vocalist enters with high pitched screams and then the song calms down and a somewhat keyboard solo is played for 5 songs, for some reason this “solo” reminds me of Dracula. After some time, there is a Limbonic Art moment. It’s so amazing that there are no actual words to describe how it sounds and what feeling it conveys. The song then shifts to its original sound and ends with the same aggressiveness that it started with.
There are still 2 more songs that I’m not going to review because I think you got a picture of what this band sounds like.
P.S: THIS IS A MUST LISTEN TO ALBUM FOR ALL SYMPHONIC BLACK METAL LOVERS. In my opinion this band will give you a taste of what TRUE SYMPHONIC BLACK METAL sounds like.
