he he, how dramatic you are
I need to listen to it for few more times before getting as excited as you are about it 
Glad you are half way back again... uhm... you're rating is missing... but it was 95/100, right?
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| My Lunar Aurora - A Haudiga Fluag review https://www.metalreviews.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3008 |
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| Author: | Misha [ Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:33 pm ] |
| Post subject: | My Lunar Aurora - A Haudiga Fluag review |
My most sincere apologies, but after certainly not less than 90 listeningsessions, I can't keep myself from reviewing this incredible piece of art. For those who do not know it, it's Lunar's Half of their split with Paysage D'Hiver. Enjoy and please do comment! In the world of metal, we can roughly distinguish four major types of releases unaffected with any form of taste. The first will be the mediocre or simply bad records that remain uninteresting regardless how many times we play them. The second type is the one occupied by those albums that sound excessively well the first time they deploy before our ears, but relatively quickly lose their glance. Then there are those that take a while to get out of their shelters, and seem rather boring to us at the first listens. Yet after showing their true faces, these can keep interesting for a very long time. Finally there are those records, that, although they sound already great on the first listen, simply do not bore regardless how many times they repeat themselves before us. These are the truly great, and Lunar Aurora’s half of the split can calculate herself to it. Too large is the mob that knows too little of the genre of black art to realize that black metal is not dead, and that not every band gazes in the past to desperately pull itself up on the so called great of the second wave. Or as unfortunately too many (generally Norwegian) bands seem to think, that progression is only possible through modernizing the sound of black metal and basically go against the very definition of black metal, with the result of not being black metal anymore, but to go under the flag of the half-assed genre of norsecore instead. The truth is, black metal is far from dead, it has actually never been more alive than now. Especially the descendants of second wave projects like Ulver, Nargaroth, Burzum, Ildjarn and Mütiilation seem to flourish both in excellence and originality, and for the moment, the French and especially the Germans are rulers of the scene. Although Lunar Aurora has been around for a while, and never released ordinary black hate, this song of theirs more than tops the rest of their discography as it is until now. Not only in terms of quality, but also in originality and abstractness. The split contains three songs, two by the famous Paysage D’Hiver, which I will not discuss in this review, and merely one by Lunar Aurora: A Haudiga Fluag. Of course all of this uproar would be out of place if it weren’t for the 22 minutes that the song lasts (the two songs by Paysage D’Hiver together last about as long). Admittedly, the scene of black art is notorious for showing her finger to pop structures and commercialism, as well as the whole concept of most people’s modern view on the word “song”, but this track is rather extreme. Although Paysage D’Hiver and others have worked out longer songs, I don’t think they managed to do that with so few different melodies and riffs without filling in large gaps with long ambient parts, whilst creating such a solid track. I am most sure that Lunar Aurora has looked at the band on the other side of the LP more than on their other albums, as they manage to craft a more solid and listenable form of music then their competitor. In terms of ambience, A Haudiga Fluag might even leave Paysage D’Hiver’s Nacht demo behind, which says quite a lot. There is 22 minutes of music craved in this side of the black plastic disk of nostalgia. Pure gold is every second of it. Maybe this track is closest to Varg’s work, not in sound nor in structure, but merely in the feeling he tried to get across. The song is built up in several layers, first, the groaning bass undertone of epic proportions so profound, it translates the feeling of the earth itself into sound. The drums sound, however they are more varied, a lot like the drum-machines of bands like Hate Forest and (again) Paysage D’Hiver, but the production gave it a slightly colder function on this track. Then there are these celestial keys that are slightly dug in the mix to avoid a possible cheese factor. They add a feeling as distant as the stars themselves, and as cold as the void of space. Musically, they wave along with about everything or sometimes show us a melody of their own. On top of this lies a very present layer of deep, buzzing yet crushing guitars, playing undeniably strong and dynamic riffs. As heavy as they appear, as cold they are. Inducing a snowstorm of epic proportions, cold as ice and as impenetrable as darkness itself. Together with some samples of wind, we have found ourselves something like a cross-product of Vinterriket and Paysage D’Hiver, yet here it only begins… This mountain of winter landscape in rawest of audio is crowned by the one thing that makes this record unforgettable, unquestionable and simply some of, if not the best of what black metal until now has been able to disgorge. This ingredient defines the art. This metaphorical crown is an acoustic guitar, catching and binding the whole of sonic rawness in one powerful descriptive and imagery invoking noise. Playing a melody so heavenly beautiful, so calming yet so undeniably sad, so warm and comforting yet at the same time so penetratingly arctic, I could never have dreamed a melody like this existed or could exist. It is all over the song and despite a handful of variations, it is in itself unable to bore (me yet). The sound of the acoustic guitar is also quite awkward, unlike previously mentioned bands’ productions, here the sound is not as if played outside in a cold mountain view. The reverb provides in a feeling and image of a vast underground cave and lake, where our melancholic melody is only amplified and not suppressed. It’s in interesting contradiction with the rest of the music, as it is in many other ways. The track seems to be built up around this guitar, and the rest of the composition consists out of innumerable variations through all different layers while two types of vocals seem to be drowned in the mix. A higher, standard black metal attack, more or less Varg-ish but not as shrieking, and a lower voice, with an extreme sense of melancholy, completely in line with that unforgettable guitar-melody. When the song starves, all that is left is this melody, as the first rays of sun after a sonic icestorm, it shines its fragile light upon our faces and touches our souls in the deepest way music ever touched me. Then we are left with merely one single thought in our emptied minds: MORE!! |
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| Author: | valefor [ Wed Aug 17, 2005 4:59 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Hmmm... I bought Welteganger back in '97 and didn't care for it. Is this better? Nice review BTW. V. |
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| Author: | Misha [ Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
I suggest you download to check it out, maybe it's not your thing, it's different from the other records though... |
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| Author: | Astaroth [ Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
he he, how dramatic you are I need to listen to it for few more times before getting as excited as you are about it Glad you are half way back again... uhm... you're rating is missing... but it was 95/100, right?
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| Author: | Skartasis [ Wed Aug 17, 2005 8:50 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Not bad, this is amarvel of a split indeed. It's a pity you aint a reviewer anymore. Really brings out what you apriciate in black metal. But why did you not review Paysage D'hiver's side? That one is pretty good too. |
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| Author: | Misha [ Wed Aug 17, 2005 9:12 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Skartasis wrote: Not bad, this is amarvel of a split indeed. It's a pity you aint a reviewer anymore. Really brings out what you apriciate in black metal. But why did you not review Paysage D'hiver's side? That one is pretty good too.
It is, but it's not that important to review, because it sounds like the rest of paysage, and a little less than the other albums. this lunar sounds like nothing lunar or another band ever did before... |
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| Author: | Goat [ Sun Aug 21, 2005 12:08 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
Goddamn, do I miss your reviewing! That makes my Burzum effort look truly pathetic.
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| Author: | Misha [ Sun Aug 21, 2005 1:21 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
zadsterboombox wrote: Goddamn, do I miss your reviewing! That makes my Burzum effort look truly pathetic.
Just write more reviews dude
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| Author: | Goat [ Mon Sep 05, 2005 5:35 pm ] |
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Gast1 wrote: zadsterboombox wrote: Goddamn, do I miss your reviewing! That makes my Burzum effort look truly pathetic. Just write more reviews dude Working on it... 
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| Author: | Astaroth [ Mon Oct 24, 2005 12:15 pm ] |
| Post subject: | |
i think i have been listening to that Lunar Aurora part for 20 times by now.... and i have to admit it's some good quality shit!!! and the paysage d'hiver part is pretty good too 
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