The black metal beast that is Chaos Moon fell into a deep slumber back in 2011 after only releasing two studio albums and a few EPs. Alex Poole, member of metal projects Krieg, Esoterica, and Lithotome, has decided to awaken his original metal creation. This one man band’s third album, Resurrection Extract, is one of the better atmospheric black metal records to come to life this year.

The album begins very atmospherically with Seeing Through One I. The introductory track is filled with gripping emotion and transcendence. A bit psychedelic it all sounds at first, but the violent start to Bloodfall with its explosive drums and guitar riffs takes the awakened colossal Chaos Moon up more notches.

The album lacks speed in some songs, as the third track Altar shows. The strong and powerful riff from the start sets the tone for a calmer yet still aggressive track. Barrow follows the same suiting, with again a slower tempo, but with melodic and atmospheric guitar licks. Some moments of complete and terrifying ambience emerge in areas, and none is better than the overwhelming dark and Silent Hill sounding end to Dreams Scattered Over An Infinite Mirror.

Guitars get a little more psychedelic in sound during the start of Asemic Weakness. The interestingly dark and twang of the clean guitars are brilliant in sound. The vocals here sound more along the lines of screams of torture clouded in a murky haze of black sludge. The slower tempo is used once again, which may had been a bit of a bore at times, but it’s all forgotten easily with the album's fantastic and superb end to this rich in atmosphere album.

Exordium of Exile spirals the album inward into chaos with quicker riffs and drumming, but still maintaining the albums atmospheric essence. The clean and beautiful guitars evoke sadness and beauty, and opened the last part of the album with my absolute favorite guitar riff which is dark, sophisticated, yet still with a great nasty black metal sound.

A lot of one man bands spark my attention, mainly within the black metal genre. Chaos Moon’s Resurrection Extract is one of the better singular acts I have had the privilege to listen to lately. It’s good to see that an act such as this has found its ground once again and hopefully will not be sent back into slumber.