A soul can gaze into the sea of nothingness and acquire naught, but in the same breath, another can appreciate the beauty in which is presented before them, for it is a canvas for the mind to run rampant, a realm to erect one’s fortress. The abyss may give as well as it may take, but allowing the mind to be consumed, means that upon this rock, you can will your words…thoughts, into creation. In my opinion, this unification yields the most profound work, for you are now forging a world and into its core, bestowing life from whence your emotions are crafted.
Man o’ Moon Faces calls upon the glory that emanated from the glow of Symphonic Black Metal, and from that which is harnessed, an album of honest proportion is shaped into existence. ‘Before The Light’, drapes itself with the cloak of Old School Black Metal yet in adorning this vestment, it honors the past while continuing its legacy in a fitting manner.
The beauty that shines from this release comes forth in its splendor to stipple the ink of night with its celestial aura, for if the strings and percussions represented the obsidian sky, the manner in which the playing sways with grace and harmony, then the synths which amplify its aura would be the stars that adorn its atrament, flowing and creating this cosmic river. ‘Carnal Enlightenment’ stands as an attestation to where these elements converge, bleeding into each other, binding one into another, for betwixt the guitars and drums, a symbiosis is formed where the guitars crawl in its melody and the percussions envelope its sound, adding a texture to the playing, making it palpable. At times, the sound harkens back to that of Limbonic Art and even fragments of Ancient Wisdom, in its effort to use atmosphere as its main component in crafting an aural landscape.
The production though not polished and not so crude offers an organic element, whereby the musical energies that courses through this release feels unhindered in its evocation, in other words, it allows the mind to be cocooned in this magickal aura, and in turn, feel the very walls of sound constructed around it. Symphony is rather apparent on this release, however, ‘Before The Light Dies’ commands these constructs in way to both add an animated quality to the sound, where it feels as though the art is actually inhaling and exhaling. In the same breath, the vocals feel like an extension of the synth, for whereas the synth introduces a serine and calming setting, the vocals take the inverse and plays upon the duality here, in my opinion, the juxtaposition here, and the motion that follows bewitches the senses to dive deeper into that which is crafted.
‘Before The Light’ by Man o’ Moon Faces can be looked upon as literature penned from a heart that bleeds the ichor of the void, but from the same wound that pulsates, between that which is penned, moments of peace become visible to the soul that bares itself to these psalms.
