Curse Them

Moonreich is another band that comes from the huge scene of the French underground and they are active for four years now. So, they were formed in 2008 and they consist of three members while they have released two EPs and one full length album. “Curse Them” is their second EP which was released in April of 2012 and it contains three new tracks of theirs and one cover to the track “Deathwish” of Christian Death and the total duration of the album is about twenty minutes. Musically, Moonreich bring to the mind of the listener the fast and brutal Black Metal of the Scandinavian scene, with many references to the melancholic riffs of the French scene.

About the riffs, we will come across fast, warlike riffs, some which remind of Emperor, but without copying them while there are also the more melodic and melancholic riffs of the French scene. Finally, there are some mid tempo, rhythmic passages which give energy to the tracks as also a few slow parts with disharmonic melodies. Generally there is variety in the riffing and quite good structure in the tracks that, although they are quite big in duration (about six minutes), the listener can listen to them pleasantly. The guitars are played with much passion and at the same time with accuracy. The drums have very interesting lines, other times fast, other times rhythmic while they fill the compositions very nicely. The bass either because of the noise created either because of the mix I didn’t manage to distinguish it. The vocals are harsh, typical Black Metal vocals that you will have met similar in the past while the negative is that they are monotonous and they become tedious.

The production is dirty, very powerful so that a noise is created that it don’t allow you to listen clearly the faster parts of the compositions and after some time it becomes tedious. The mix, if we exclude the bass which can’t be heard at all, has achieved a balance between the guitars, which are a little louder, the drums and the vocals. The lyrics were not contained in the promo that I received but judging by the tracks’ titles, they probably are dark and Satanic and they are written in English.

Generally the work that Moonreich present is remarkable. They don’t offer anything new or unique but the Black Metal that they offer is interesting and well played. The mistakes mainly in the mix and the production are not so heavy so as to make the listen impossible but they affect much the final result. The elements that I got by Moonreich were satisfactory and they created expectations for their next work. “Curse Them” isn’t a bad release but I would suggest that you listen to it before you buy.