Customer Reviews

Lunar Poetry

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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Hailing from the Ukraine, Nokturnal Mortum has become one of the most talked about acts in the Black Metal scene as well as the National Socialist Black Metal (NSBM) scene. Lunar Poetry, their second album, has become one of the most influential and beautiful Black Metal albums around. Melodic guitars and majestic keyboards make this album a true tribute to the solemn moonlit sky on a winter night. Simply breathtaking.

Tears Of Paganism (a short, melancholic keyboard intro) starts off Lunar Poetry leading right into the title-track. Blasting drums and Black Metal rasps fill your mind with the memory of ancient Pagan nights of worship and pride. Following the title-cut comes one of the most elegant and beautiful songs I've heard: Perun's Celestial Silver.

Perun's Celestial Silver begins with a folk-inspired keyboard melody taking you far away into a land of thought and landscape. After the minute intro guitars kick in and now you are off into some of Black Metal's most glorious moments ... Embrace it while you can. From raging, haunting melodies to majestic winter imagery, Perun's Celestial Silver possesses it all. And to think this is only the beginning...

Like a storm gathering in the sky, Lunar Poetry continues on building and building thoughts and peace in your mind. From the inspiring folk-melodies of Ancient Nation to the war-march of The Grief Of Oriana, prepare to experience perfection.

Autodafe/Barbarians Dreams closes the album in the same vein as Perun's Celestial Silver. Powerful folk influences, beautiful soundscapes and tear-provoking melodies, this song once-again capture's the true essence of Nokturnal Mortum. At about four and half minutes into the song you will be taken to the closing of the album: A keyboard melody that truly is one of the most beautiful I've heard. Building on the melody is added piano and drums as well as Knjaz's whispers in the quiet, silky night.

May I say it once again ... Perfection.

I, as a Nokturnal Mortum fanatic, have been endlessly on edge waiting for the news that Lunar Poetry, their second and more recognized demo (the first was "Twilightfall", which I think should also see a CD re-release) would be re-released. Finally, after long delay, it was. This music is awesome beyond compare. I, personally, prefer this over even "Goat Horns" because it has so much more atmosphere and pagan feeling, which may be due to the worse production and the tape hiss (yes, this was remastered from a tape) which gives the feeling of listening to this out in the snow of an icy winter. One of the songs here, "Perun's Celestial Silver" was re-recorded for the "NeChrist" album, and let me tell you, it is a lot better here, slower, more sorrowful, and you can hear the keyboards more clearly. The End Recs. also chose to put "Return of the Vampire Lord" off of an old N.M. Mcd of the same name, on here as a bonus track. This was a very wise move since the song is pure greatness. Highlights of the album: "Autodafe/Barbarians Dreams" is perhaps my favorite NM song, beginning with a Mortiis-like theme and continuing with a symphony mass of keyboards that is very impressive, especially for a demo. Hell, all of the songs are highlights. This is the best Nokturnal Mortum release to date, do yourselves a favor and buy this. Now.

Well, NM did it again, and amazed me with another prime slab of symphonic/folk black metal. While "Goat Horns" suffered from a crude production, "Lunar Poetry" utilizes a clearer production, but maintains a "distant" atmospheric sound, especially in the vocals. Everything here was mastered from the original mCD, which was recorded on analog. So here, you have a more classic, warm production, with the classic tape hiss and everything. Some may complain about the tape hiss, but I think it adds that much more to the ancient feel of this album. Varrgoth's vocals are more in the traditional BM style here, though he does some strange chanting every now and then. (But especially on "Autodafe/Barbarian's Dreams".) The guitars play a bigger role here, and often harmonize together, and even solos pop up every now and then, but the keyboards are just as essential as they ever could be in NM's awe-like soundscape. First off, there is much more of a folk influence in the music here, and I guess you could say it's "heavier".

Where "Goat Horns" gave listeners visions of starry summer nights, "Lunar Poetry" portrays a more sorrowful and dreamy atmosphere, especially with the guitar work and ritual chanting vocals. Rather than visualizing a full moon riding over the plains, you get more of "wintery" vibe from this album. Listening to this would make you swear you were in the mountains on a bleak and cloudy winter night. I appreciate this type pf atmpshere that is portrayed, so I guess you could say I prefer this to "Goat Horns", though they are both supreme albums in the field of extreme metal.

Nokturnal Mortum's most famous track is on here, "Perun's Celestial Silver". It is absolutely beautiful and stunning! It has the depressing folk melodies, an absorbing atmosphere, and is probably one of the best songs on the album. "Carpathian Mysteries" is another favorite of mine with its beautiful guitar harmonies, and the war-march of "Ancient Nation" must be heard. But for me, the high point comes with "Autodafe/Barbarian's Dreams". The song plays out like a story, shifting through several extravagant melodies before breaking down into the final cycle of dream-like keys and cutting off into tape hiss. Breathtaking...

Like any other NM release, I would reccommend this to fans of symphonic black metal, or even Viking metal. A top-notch CD. Buy this along with "Goat Horns" and Summoning's "Stronghold".

This is the first album ive ever picked up by nokturnal mortum and im shocked...these guys are amazing. From the first notes of 'tears of pagonism' you know this is gonna be a dark and majestic album. The songs are very very well written, way beyond most black metal acts abillity. I would recommend this to any fan of true black metal. \m/

The pagan past of slavic nations is a fascinating subject to research, and Nokturnal Mortum is there with the atmosphere. My favorite track is Perun's Celestial Silver: Can almost imagine the mighty thunder-lightning-war god riding into the flashing fray. Their folk-sounding melodies work well with black metal power in my opinion and this album is great, as are their others. I highly recommend it.

Making a perfect album is damn near impossible to do, but this is the second of their 3 absolutely breathtakingly perfect cds (the others being Goat Horns and Weltanschauung).

This is a re-release of older material but it still holds up amazingly well. Great guitars and astonishingly gorgeous keyboards. Just listen to Perun's Celestial Silver. That is one of the greatest songs ever made. Their cover of Return Of The Vampire Lord is another perfect track.

If you havent gotten this cd yet, buy it now! You sure as hell wont regret it!

Verry good muzic....... The only thing that I would like to see a change in is the vocal volume, a little low for me. But the band is fu*#ing great. Well worth the money....