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Atmospheric Black Metal Mastery - "Stella Polaris" Review (98%)

Buy Atmospheric Black Metal Mastery -
Stella Polaris
Stella Polaris by Goatmoon.

When did Goatmoon become Neraines?

Their latest album Stella Polaris sounds closer to Yggdrasil than Finnish Steel Storm or Death Before Dishonour, what happened?

Not that I'm complaining, as Goatmoon are just as competent at playing Burzum/Neraines/Graveland style black metal than they were playing Warkvlt/Beherit/Phantom war metal.

BlackGoat's pre-Stella Polaris musical style has often been described a barbaric-style ritualistic RAC influenced war metal sound - if that description alone doesn't make you think Absurd, I don't know what else will - in the prior few years, and yet with Stella Polaris we see BlackGoat GraveDesecrator abandoning the successful formula of the past to tread on new, unbeaten paths... as Burzum did starting with Hvis Lyset Tar Oss.

Stella Polaris is traditional epic black metal in the Graveland ft. Neraines fusion at its finest. A one man army to put it in a few words.

You owe it to yourself to listen to this black metal mastery of atmosphere and epic paganism.

Atmospheric Black Metal Mastery

Goatmoon
Goatmoon.

Goatmoon have really struck gold with this album, as Graveland's Dawn of Iron Blades and Bathory's Twilight of the Gods are almost perfect in every way and it would be extremely hard to best that, but Stella Polaris has upped the ante for all those epic/pagan black metal bands out there - everything about this album Stella Polaris is awesome.

The instrumental tracks found here are perfect and help to set up and atmosphere of folksy times reminiscent of the days of old, with beautiful folk almost ambient instruments being the highlight.

The "Intro" track starts off the album in this way with a perfect flute driven part with the sounds of fire and such in the background. Perfect way of starting off the album, more tracks like this are found throughout the album, "Sonderkommando Nord" coming to mind.

The title track "Stella Polaris" is the heralding of the Winter and dark times that lead to much a rebirth in the form of spring, a lyrical thematic not different from that which you would find on a Peste Noire or Phantom record - except that Goatmoon make it explicit, as is customary in the genre, rather than implicit.

"Kansojen hävittäjä" follows along being a very relaxing and calm track relays a message of being the one after Winter, when the wildlife and mythical one awakes and take helps in the resurrection of life.

"Wolf Night" is the shortest of the eight tracks, introduction excluded, with a fiddle in the forefront holding the part of the story of Summer and the thriving time of life.

"Warrior", "Conqueror" and "Overlord" all follow a somewhat similar Neraines inspired style, and are more violent and aggressive than the first part of the album for sure.

Ending up the album is "Palavien ali-ihmisten löyhkä" which has a beautiful fiddle solo as well as a guitar solo to help and create a perfect folk inspired instrumental piece. This tells the ending of the years cycle and when the preparation of Winter begins.

Overall, Stella Polaris is simply one of the greatest atmospheric black metal masterpieces ever recorded and released.

Stella Polaris score: 98/100.

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