Wilytank After Lunar Aurora brought about 'Elixir of Sorrow', they really began to detach themselves from the symphonic black metal scene and began their second era of the second era of the band's history featuring a more depressive type of atmospheric black metal. 'Zyklus' first showed off the band's completed metamorphosis since 'Elixir of Sorrow' still retained some symphonic parts but still showed signs of the style change. 'Mond' refined what 'Zyklus' brought about; and finally, there came 'Andacht', the best of this era but for better or worse also the end of this era.

I must say, this is Lunar Aurora's most depressive album yet. The sorrowful tone first brought about in 'Elixir of Sorrow' is brought to its peak in 'Andacht'. Among the different types of setting the atmosphere evokes is "Glück", with the church-like atmosphere brought about by the choir; and "Geisterschif", which goes right along with its translated title "Ghostship" in that it makes me feel like I'm sailing away from the shores of some place on a wooden ship during a foggy day and a storm closing in. The atmosphere is brought about by the guitar work, something Lunar Aurora have become quite skilled at doing. In particular, the lead guitar in 'Andacht' is very prominent and very impressive. While there is noticeable use of the keyboards on this album, the lead guitar often overrides them. The keys are at their strongest on the final two tracks "Der Pakt" and "Das Ende", though one of the "atmospheric" elements on the latter song sounds like someone inflating a balloon.

The drums are programmed by Sindar, Aran's younger brother. With the rest of the production rather clear sounding, the drums also sound pretty good; but their presence is a little overbearing at times such as the final refrain of "Glück" where i feel that they might have been overproduced. The vocals are handled by Aran, Sindar, and Whyrhd; but good luck trying to tell who says what since three different voices are heard in the songs. The only one i could recognize was Whyrhd from his work in the 'Hoagascht' album; he has the lowest voice. But otherwise, kudos to him and whoever did the majority of the higher screeching on the songs as well as whoever did clean vocals on "Glück".

Though there are a few small flaws, 'Andacht' is enjoyable enough for me to put it in the top tier category of my review filing system. However, it would be the end of this era for Lunar Aurora; and after they reformed, Sindar would not join them. Let 'Andacht' stand as one of the band's greatest efforts to date as well as the most ideal way to make this era go out with a bang.

Wilytank By the time I've caught on to Lunar Aurora, they've already split up and reformed; but I've found what I've listened to already so interesting that I was looking forward to their latest output 'Hoagascht'. The band has downsized, only maintaining Aran on instruments and Whyrhd on vocals. Regardless, these two veterans march on and make a very strong atmospheric black metal album.

See the art? The owl, the tree, and the moon? These things fit the atmosphere very well. Throughout the entire album, I think of an owl flying through the forest under a full moon and a star filled sky. Compared to their previous entry, 'Andacht', the atmosphere on 'Hoagascht' is much more consistent. One thing that boosts this is the much bigger role the keyboards play in this album compared to 'Andacht', provided that 'Andacht' didn't need the keys as much since the lead guitar on that album was used as a very prominent instrument. That attribute isn't present in 'Hoagascht'; the guitars are still layered, but there's no outstanding lead guitar. The keys here never make the music approach the boundaries of bombast though, and the guitars are the main instruments that carry the songs' melodies and tone; and the drums, while programmed, sound natural (especially when compared to the drums on 'Mond' and 'Andacht') and go with the album well.

Though much of the music is played mid-paced, such as "Im Gartn" and "Geisterwoid", there are faster pieces like "Håbergoaß" and the ending of "Nachtuele". There's also the slower epic, emotional sounding "Sterna" which is probably my biggest favorite from the album. The only track I really have a problem with is "Wedaleichtn", which starts out fine but then cuts to a prolonged sample passage that feels like it takes up a third of the song or more; so we've got a little time waste, but it's just a little impurity in an otherwise really clear glass of water.

This album just falls short of a top tier ranking. It's not as great as 'Elixer of Sorrow' or 'Andacht'; but I definitely like it more than 'Mond', which was a good album itself. 'Hoagasht' was a shift in the band's style though, and may bring a third era of the band as far as music goes. If so, I'm eager to see what all Lunar Aurora can do with it.

Wilytank After skimming over Lunar Aurora's discography, I can safely identify two separate eras for the band. The first era placed a lot of emphasis on keyboards to make some pretty interesting symphonic black metal. The other era is more of a depressive, atmospheric black metal tone. Keys are still there, but they've been re-purposed as a secondary part of the music. 'Elixir of Sorrow' seems to be a mixture of the two eras, and it is this album that I shall write my first review for this band.

The thing that sets this album apart from all the ones before it is the guitars. The production is much clearer, more melodic, and has a more noticeable second layer of guitar. It's a big change from 'Ars Moriendi' where the guitars were much more raw and the keys were really prominent. Here in 'Elixir of Sorrow', the guitars are the prominent instrument. The keys still exist enough on here for me to call this symphonic black metal, but they fit more comfortably in the role of a supporting instrument. I kinda like them better like this. They compliment the new guitar style quite well, especially since they keep a spacey, atmospheric tone but fit into the more depressing feel of the album like a glove.

I see 'Elixir of Sorrow' as a conceptual work of melancholy, and the sorrowful lyrics fit right in. 'Ars Moriendi' tried the concept as well, but it didn't really hold up as well due to its more bombastic approach with the keyboards. The extra layer of guitar in 'Elixir of Sorrow' does do the theme justice as well. It definitely makes the music's atmosphere deeper thus making the depressive tone much more welcome.

Despite there only being five real tracks, 'Elixir of Sorrow' is a very filling experience. Of course, having two songs that exceed 10 minutes in length may have helped. Saying that doesn't do them justice though as "Augenblick" and "Hier und jetzt" are some of the best songs on the album. All the other songs are great too though, and "Elixir of Sorrow" is definitely one of Lunar aurora's best albums. Definitely a smart choice for the black metal enthusiast.

Vehemency For me, Lunar Aurora seems to be a band of one album. And its name is Zyklus. Although the band has released quite a bunch of material since the mid 90s until the current indefinite hiatus, I cannot stress enough how epic this album is when compared to the rest of their catalogue. Certainly none of Lunar Aurora’s releases are bad, but they pale in comparison with this beast from 2004.

Zyklus consists of four long tracks of atmospheric black metal. Unlike many other Lunar Aurora albums, the production is very raw, creating an ice cold atmosphere. Not many albums manage to sound as fierce and utterly cold, to be honest. The album is carefully constructed, and although many people have complained about repetition, I don’t think it’s tedious at all. Certainly there is some repetition but all the little details in the many layers of Zyklus keep it interesting. And honestly, repetition really works for this kind of albums that focus on atmosphere. Personally I can’t even find that much ”repetition” here: the album is very, very diverse with all the acoustic guitars, synths, samples, tempo changes et cetera. I guess this album just takes a few more listens than an usual black metal album to show all its hidden beauty.

It is not easy to explain why albums like Zyklus are great because they rely so much on atmosphere. Things like that can’t easily be put into words. It’s too bad I can’t speak German, and this is one of the only downsides I can find. Zyklus seems to carry a strong theme about cycles (the four songs are named after the four times of day) so it’s a shame I can’t understand what is being sung. Fans of Lunar Aura will surely respect this album, but as far as I’m aware, it’s not a common favourite among them. Maybe I’m missing something in Lunar Aurora’s other albums? I really need to dig into them again, though I’m skeptical that I would find something as beautiful as Zyklus.