Style: Symphonic black metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: Symphonic black metal done right
Thoughts: Keyboards in black metal is nothing new... at least they aren't now. Back in 1996 however they were not nearly as commonly used. Some albums would use them as introductions, others would use them as accents... but very few used them as a central part to the music.
This is where Moon in the Scorpio comes in. The keyboards here are not only a prominent instrument, they are perhaps the main focus of the music. They play the main melody, they provide the atmosphere, they drive the tone and the tempo most of the time as well. Of course guitars, vocals and drums are still present, but they are all secondary to the might of the keys.
The real question is: does it work? Does the reliance on keys make the music better. In the case of Limbonic Art, yes it does. It makes the music a hell of a lot better. To the point where if the keyboards were absent, these songs would not be nearly as strong as they are with them.
There are seven songs on this record and it clocks in at nearly an hour long. The music has to be compelling to be that long and keep me interested the whole time. Limbonic Art succeeds on all fronts with this in mind.
The music is dynamic, the melodies are interesting and know when to progress into the next section or even song without hesitation. There are very few awkward transitions in the music. In fact the transitions are one of the stronger parts of the music all together.
Symphonic black metal can be a mixed bag, but for this hour Moon in the Scorpio is one of the better entries into the genre. The band never was this good again, at least in the material that I heard. Either way you cut it, this is one hell of a debut album.
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