From the increasingly interesting Belgian Black Metal scene comes this latest addition, Bloedmaan (Blood Moon when translated from Dutch). Named after the scarlet red colour of the moon during a total lunar eclipse, it immediately reveals which corner we can find the band in. Recent years have seen a strong resurgence in the number of bands that have drawn inspiration from Victorian horror themes such as vampires, dark castles and worshipping the occult. With a look at the fantastic artwork of this first record, it seems to be a simple addition of things…
While it really seemed to be a simple sum of things, the music delivered with ‘Castle Inside The Eclipse’ happens to be just a tad different from your regular Drowning The Light or other vampiric-themed Black Metal band. First of all the music is wrapped in quite an overwhelming big sound, that allows the music to be most effective. But the most striking thing with Bloedmaan is the great balance between solid song writing and the amazing musicianship. Bloedmaan happens to be the brainchild of Ronarg, who is also in Antzaat and Ars Veneficium (in which Immortal Frost Productions’ chief is also featured), but this time Ronarg is captain of this own musical vessel. And, consequently, not only does he prove to be a gifted musician by handling all instruments (except the drums), he also reveals a clear and steady sense of direction as a captain.
On ‘Castle Inside The Eclipse’, which clocks just under half an hour, Ronarg shows his excellence in crafting some real earworms of melodies that he is able to weave throughout the whole of this debut album. For the most part the album is played in a reasonably high pace that paints a stark contrast with the great melodies and with doing so Bloedmaan creeps much closer up to a band like Forteresse than to the majority of the Vampire-themed bands. It is not only the great drumming by guest musician Frederik Geuvens (check out his own band Verwilderd) but the frantic screaming is also adding to the intense and stormy character of the music. The art, however, lies mainly in the controlled use of these fast tempos and the razor-sharp guitar sound, without getting bogged down in a wall of indefinable sound. No, Ronarg definitely knows how to impress with his first born.
That Immortal Frost Productions signed for this release is of course no surprise given their close ties, but with Bloedmaan, the label also unquestionably signed one of the most promising bands from the current booming Belgian Black Metal landscape. And, to whip things up even more, ‘Castle Inside The Eclipse’ may well be the best the Belgian label has ever released.
