Frostmoon
Eclipse
“As Time Retreats” (Immortal Frost Productions, 2025)
Frostmoon Eclipse is an Italian Black Metal formed in 1994 by Claudio Alcara. I wanted to start my review in a way that informed people of what they were about to read, in the sense that this is a band that has been around for over 30 years, which is amazing by itself; however, if we mention Black Metal band, I believe it makes it even more amazing, d’you know what I mean? The music industry is not the best friend a musician can find, but to be around for this long…
“As Time Retreats” is Frostmoon Eclipse’s most recent release, its 8th full-length album, and a release I fear might fly under people’s radars, which is a shame. In a world where Black Metal fans are overwhelmed with releases and releases, we tend to miss a few… a “few”, I say. Far from the rawer and more visceral fringe of the genre, this album has bits and pieces of a various spectrum of sounds within the genre, and outside the genre. I believe the band has thrown out the window every single prejudice they could have had in terms of “what not to do if you play Black Metal” and just went with it.
“Transient”, the opener, warns us on how the record will sound, yet we are surprised several times throughout it. And the good thing? I do not get tired of listening to it. Trying to understand similarities with other bands is a thing I do once in a while, but I am yet to come up with names I consider appropriate. If we dissect the band’s lineup, we come up with names like Blut aus Nord, Darvaza, Chaos Invocation, Nubivagant, Liber Bull, etc., etc., etc. In a way, this is not guarantee for success, but in the end it is. The band’s sound is immensely diversified, although it will always land on Black Metal, in a way.
One thing they went all in for, is melody. We have delicate melodies, we have these atmospheric melodies, these peaceful melodies… Lorenzo’s vocals are epically epic. From the melodic and sang vocal, to the raspy growls, the lad does it all, and it works the melody in a way that all makes sense, that all fits, and evolves as one. Not one to place A above B, but I love Gionata’s drum work, that like the vocals, feeds the music the way it needs to be fed.
Does it sound like Black Metal 100% of the
time? No. do I have a problem a with that? Please, no. Do I want to see the
band risk it again? Again and again, of course. In conclusion of some sort: the
fusion – although “fusion” is not the best word to describe it, in my opinion –
was extremely well taught, and “Universe Black Vacuum” is one hell of a track!
As I mentioned before, I am very curious to see what these ragazzos come up
with next!
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