AUGUST MOON "Something Eldritch And Macabre" CD (Personal Records 2024) The origins of AUGUST MOON can be traced back to the year 1993, when a couple of Finnish pimple-faced heavy metal teenagers playing in a band called As Serenity Fades decided that there was more to explore in the metal universe and teamed up with likeminded good friends to form another band in parallel - basically, to get to play more and try out ideas not that suitable for the "main band" at the time. During this first short stint, lasting 1993-1994, AUGUST MOON recorded two demos, Rosegardens in 1993 followed by an untitled two-track demo in 1994, before splitting up with other life interests taking over. These demos were later released by The Crypt label in 2011 as part of the As Serenity Fades / AUGUST MOON - Earthborn / Lowering Sunset / Rosegardens split LP.Come the year 2014 and AUGUST MOON started their second leg, now as manly men and in trio format, with bassist Mikko Sorja taking over the main vocal duties from drummer Tom Henriksson and guitarist Peter Viherkanto continuing with the songwriting. This time, it took 10 years to release anything. In 2024, AUGUST MOON finally started releasing the end results of their work with the self-produced four-song EP Something Eldritch Up In The Heavens Soon To Wreak Havoc Down On Earth, released in January and then followed up by the single "Summoning Of The Feathered Serpent" the following month. Unbeknownst to all but the band themselves, these five songs plus four more would soon comprise their LONG-awaited debut album, Something Eldritch and Macabre.Tellingly titled, Something Eldritch and Macabre is indeed a throwback to ancient times - again, this is authentically '90s-vintage Finnish MELODIC death metal before the term "melodic" became used & abused beyond belief - but one deceptively forward-thinking, if not "modern" in the non-pejorative sense. Right from the opening seconds of the album, AUGUST MOON literally EXPLODE with a flurry / fury of unorthodox yet totally METAL ideas. From the righteously world-eating vocals to the strangely addicting organs working magick with the skewed-yet-still-linear riffing, from the complex-yet-catchy songwriting to the alternately raw / slicked-up production, nearly every element of Something Eldritch and Macabre walks its own weird path, but they all meet as a pentagram of powerful totality. Put another way, AUGUST MOON here reinvigorate all that the original melodic death metal scene of the '90s represented - and all that the modern iterations of the style are lacking today. Further, they carry on the unfinished business of their original formation by reestablishing the Finnish sound of that era, totally untouched, which is rare nowadays with newer releases. For those still pining for a logical through-point from Sentenced's North From Here to their all-time-classic Amok, look to Something Eldritch and Macabre. For those who prize some purity with their weirdness, or vice versa - or hell, EVERYONE else - AUGUST MOON have arrived from time immemorial to satiate your dark desires!
