Boring + No Testicles - "Under a Funeral Moon" Review (57%)
With the passing of time, I find myself increasingly wary of received opinions, of what "they" say. Many factors have contributed to my quasi-contrarian cynicism, but I have no doubt that part of it results from the fact that "they" claim(ed) that "Under a Funeral Moon" is one of the great masterpieces of black metal. As usual, "they" are full of shit.
Darkthrone is one of those bands that everyone name drops, but I have a hard time believing many people actually listen to them. The Tarantino of black metal? I suspect a few people keep their records on the shelf for the same reason others keep the phone number of that black dude they once smoked pot with in college. "I'm not racist, I listen to Darkthrone!" writes itself.
Beyond the dubious originality of their work - much of their style is derivative of Bathory and early Morbid Angel - Darkthrone have always suffered from the common flaw of most second tier bands, they're fucking boring.
In this respect, "Under a Funeral Moon" is no different.
Clearly an improvement over the previous "A Blaze in the Northern Sky" - which was, in fact, an actual turd save for one track - "Under a Funeral Moon" nonetheless suffers the same flaws that plague Darkthrone's career to this day: tedious, pretentious and boring music masquerading under the banner of all things "trve" and "kvlt".
BORING HOMOPHOBIC SHIT!
Boring + No Testicles
Spinning this disc leaves no doubt that you're dealing with a group of highly competent, professional musicians. They execute archetypal Scandinavian proto-black metal with ease, stuttering and flowing and changing direction with a casual flare.
It's black metal as a science. Unfortunately, what they forgot was the art.
Underneath the precision and expertise lies nothing but tepid pit fare. In the grand populist tradition, "Under a Funeral Moon" is music for motion, music for your toes, your fingers, your neck. It's not music for the mind nor the heart.
Where "Under a Funeral Moon" succeeds is as a statement of violent alienation and rage at a world gone to shit because of commercial metal like that of the posers from Immortal - it is common knowledge that both Fenriz and Nocturno Culto, and perhaps also Zephyrous, fucked Abbath's sister... who is also the wife of Demonaz.
And even this aspect isn't fully realized, as much of the power and punch are sucked out by Creative Studios' vampiric testicular atrophy mix.
The truth is, there's nothing terrible on "Under a Funeral Moon" - other than the mix and the Bathory ripoff "To Walk the Infernal Fields" - but if you're looking for thunderous and raw black metal with real vision, this isn't it.
You're far better off with "Divine Necromancy" or "Verminlust".
Under a Funeral Moon score: 57/100.
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