Moongates Guardian, if you haven’t heard of them before think of….well think of Summoning. Lord of the Rings lore shrouded in epic atmospheric black metal workings hailing from a duo of warriors from Russia. Their sound is remarkably rich for a DIY project and the music is a must have for fans of this genre of black metal. Some people hold Moongates in high regard, pairing them with the previously mentioned Summoning as well as Emyn Muil and Caladan Brood. The new album “Let Horse Be Bridled, Horn Be Sounded!” is another fine release within their ever growing discography and is a wonderfully well done surprise start to the new year.
Not your typical moongates
For those long time listeners of this band you’ll notice some things that are slightly different about Moongates Guardian’s approach to song writing on this album. They scaled back the formula a bit of epic black metal and seem to have gone with a full scale cinematic feeling on this album. It’s not just a logo change here but a small adjustment to composition and overall quality of the music. While some bands tend to either stay with the same sound or change drastically, Moongates‘ latest album pushes for more of a fulfilling story telling atmosphere here with more emphasis on atmosphere and synth filled orchestral moments and choir chants.
The flow of the album is actually really well done as is the enjoyment of the listen from beginning to end. I was fully into the musical aspect of the album the entire listen, never once losing me (Except for maybe the questionable blaring of the horn on “The Dragon is Withered” but I will get into that soon). There is no rush in flow here and I enjoy the tempo changes throughout, it keeps me interested.
not for surround sound speakers
I don’t know why this was but this album sounded terrible on my good speakers & that is a 9 speaker BOSE system. This album reigns supreme using stereo only headphones: heck this albums sounds majestic on my normal iPhone earbuds too but no matter what I did to adjust the sound on my BOSE system, it just came out with no guitars, synth mixed way too high and drums sounding overly artificial. Using my headphones everything is mixed more properly as guitars can be heard, vocals are stable, drums sound more natural and synth isn’t so bombastic. So if you have a great surround sound styled speaker setup make sure you turn it to stereo to get a better experience while listening to this album. As for the over zealous horn sound on “The Dragon is Withered“: it’s more stable with headphones and fits in better with a proper stereo setup.
a good start to the year for black metal
Moongates Guardian brings something fierce to the party very early on for 2017 black metal and I think it has the appeal to last all year. You can listen to the album here on their Bandcamp page and I highly recommend doing so. Work off that New Years hangover with some beautifully done epic black metal!
7/10
January 1st, 2017
Independent
FFO: Summoning, Emyn Muil, Caladan Brood and anything Tolkien ever wrote.
Fav Tracks: The Dragon Is Withered, Elbereth Gilthoniel, Beren and Luthien & The Wind Was On The Withered Hearth
