In service of Satan and the still deep-underground traditions of outlier-set early 90’s black metal Hamina, Finland-based duo MOONFALL reference rotten champions of the past as an eldest-but-newest vision within a greater body of classicist forms studied and put to practicum. As a debut full-length album ‘Odes to the Ritual Hills‘ is succinct enough in its damage, a niche specific collage of bass guitar driven heavy metal riffs and dark fantasy keyed melodies which revives traits from multiple scenes at primitive and unholy nascency. For a first formal album this work is secure in its impact and sincere in its pursuit as a brief yet impactful experience, one complete and easily read thought (or, tribute) chopped into two complimentary halves.

Moonfall formed by way of Demonomancer of the Rising Curse of Witchery aka Goatprayer circa 2008 eventually sourcing guest drummer and frequent collaborator Black Moon Necromancer as the duo’s taste for ‘old school’ black metal and the ancient European underground’s ugliest outliers expanded in many different directions. The breathy whispered vocals and distorted bass dive of their first demo tape (‘Ad Majorem Sathanae Gloriam‘, 2010) failed to fully spit the taste of Beherit out of its mouth but nonetheless carried a raw and ancient sound behind loose and minimal ideas, a sound somewhat akin to stuff from Bestial Burst or nearby at the time. The tape kind of sucked from my point of view at least when compared to their total worship bands that followed (OfDoom, Black Feast, Witchcraft, etc.) in various configuration with other penitents of the old ways. The idea was scrapped by 2011. In the interim they’d founded an ‘old school’ obsessed black metal zine, Macabre Overdose, which would eventually feature a lot of old ass interviews once the issues started to flow. All of their output from the late 2000’s through today remains truly devoted fandom, making clear not only their taste for tradition but doing all they could to champion and add to the legacy of that sound with their own work.

Moonfall was reborn circa 2019 with the by then regular collaborators switching roles on a second demo tape (‘Wings of Darkness of Adversary‘, 2020) where it’d felt like they’d consciously recreated the atmosphere of the first tape but added competent enough musicianship, rusted old keyboards, and an element of doom folks quickly ascribed to the early 90’s circle of post-or-nearby ‘Worship Him‘ gloom (re: Black Crucifixion‘s first tape, Xantotol, etc.) however understated it was. It wasn’t entirely clear what was all that compelling about the duo’s work until the ‘Eerie Realms of Hell‘ split with compatriots Regere Sinister made it clear enough between its two first pieces, splitting their work between Beherit-cranked whipping, the ‘Eerie‘ and adjacent species inhabited by Barathrum, and some inspiration from pre-1996 Hellenic black metal which could be found on “Temptress of Hell”. It wasn’t as good as any of those things but it is always inspiring to see folks recreate the old sounds even if they’re inconsistent. Around that time (2021) it is worth noting the duo also produced full-length debuts for Necromonarchia Daemonum and Ceremonial Torture, the latter of which you’ll enjoy the shit out of if you end up enjoying the exaggerated, obnoxious spirit of ‘Odes to the Ritual Hills‘.

Where incompetent hard rock drumming and cheap synth controllers collide I will follow back in time without fail but I typically hold very low expectations for the “revivalist” fan being inventive in their aesthetic recreations anymore. Between a lack of new Cemetery Lights material, Asphodelus going goth metal, and an ‘Anno Satanae‘ remaster with AI album art… Moonfall are somehow the best thing going for this ancient black/doom niche which stirs the maniac far north into miasmic southeastern European wiles. In the case of ‘Odes to the Ritual Hills‘ a pivot was necessary for their gig to work and that means bass-driven (early) Necromantia worthy dirges and the doomed heavy metal venturing of Varathron‘s first couple of records, especially the bounding solemnity of ‘Walpurgisnacht‘, factor into this new album’s ambitions. Side A‘s ten minute opus of echoic blathering and ear-searing keys, “Countess Carody”, sounds as if it were pulled from the earliest days of Molon Lave‘s output with its slow-galloped tread beneath suffocating vocal work. There is a hint of “Cassiopeia’s Ode” in the development of this song, especially ~3:57 minutes in feature of the bass guitar’s clean toned break. Otherwise the vocals here are no longer whispers but mic-blowing roars, rasped diction, and echo-fried snarling colliding into incoherent church-gassing nox. The effect is terrible, incoherent in an interruptive way, and this gives Moonfall some of their own early-days Finnish black metal appeal despite this first song being decidedly on vacation in the Athenian underworld.

The march into the realm of the beast which introduces the title track (“Ode to the Ritual Hills”) compels with its beat of the war drum and high fantasy key-in before growls, hisses, and pitch shifted vocals shred the moment apart, giving way to slow-going bass guitar riffs and twinkling accoutrement. Here the references to classic Barathrum make the most sense as the main riff develops and all locks into stumbling step. It’d be fair to say that the vocals are annoying trash, fair enough, but they -are- following an old demo days spirited tradition which calls back to the earliest springs of originality in black metal while building a grotesquely loud signature for themselves in the process. The prominent use of keys/synth on this album is probably its best asset beyond the handful of riffs deployed otherwise, bookending the album with a stark and simple atmosphere which is effective in creating a layer of atmospheric fixation around their unbothered craft.

To the enduring fan of underground black metal my guess is that many had Moonfall‘s sound pegged before hearing a second of it per the curation of the cover art and general layout, a look which to me recalls something like (early) Christ Agony‘s visual design during their first couple of LPs. In this sense I don’t believe ‘Odes to the Ritual Hills‘ will have trouble finding its audience and some might even stick around despite the distempered racket that emerges on this album as they lean harder into the vocal effects and keyboard-juiced gloom. The only bummer here is the ~28 minute length as it feels like a complete thought for an EP but about sixty percent of a great album otherwise. From my point of view, and with consideration for the sheer amount of work these folks put into ten other projects past-and-present, these folks could make albums like this in their sleep… and sure, I’d encourage it as there are few consistent examples of this type of gig making noise that is worth a shit anymore and these folks have stylized this debut to a perfect point of horrendous scathe that it has a certain lasting charm. A moderately high recommendation.

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