Hunters Moon is formed by musicians that have also been involved with Nocturnal Graves and Denouncement Pyde. This album (EP?) follows their 2006 demo tape.
What we have on this short, 21 minutes, disc is four songs sandwiched between two instrumentals. Opener, "Deadly Paradise", is an ambient piece with wind samplings and clean arpeggios; a very nice little intro actually. "Last Rites" also contains clean guitars with ambient keyboards, plus some crushing riffs; another cool composition. As for the four songs, they pretty much follow the same pattern and style: melodic Black Metal with a slight epic edge. The sound production is a bit raw, without causing any real damage to the hearing experience though. The pace is varied, the vocals are of a deep raspy nature and the musicianship is pretty good. Some crunchy riffs are offered and a bit of a rock and roll feel is felt on songs "Baphomet". Maybe it's my ears doing tricks on me, but I can decipher some keyboards in the background in a couple places.
Overall, The Serpent Lust is not too bad, although it could use some improvement in its refinement and harmonies. The instrumental tracks are the best compositions, and perhaps with some of those more melodious tones in the future, this could improve their sound.
Track listing:
- 1 Deadly Paradise
- 2 a Light in the Abyss
- 3 The Ravens Swoon
- 4 Baphomet
- 5 The Serpent Lust
- 6 Last Rites