MOON — Caduceus Chalice (review)

MOON — Caduceus Chalice album cover Album · 2010 · Atmospheric Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
2/5 ·
Vehemency
What - this isn’t a Xasthur album? I have to recheck that I’m actually listening to an Australian band named Moon whose debut album Caduceus Chalice was released through Wolfsvuur - known from ’quantity over quality’ principle, if you ask me - earlier this year. Everything is so similar, if not identical, to Xasthur that I’m confused: the same ghostly, dissonant atmosphere, effect-filled vocals and a drum machine are present.

I do find myself enjoying Caduceus Chalice’s ominous atmosphere. As described by the band itself, it is a journey through the underworld, and the album succeeds in it with its multiple layers of instrumentation. Compositionally, however, Moon doesn’t provide anything absolutely interesting, at least anything that Xasthur hasn’t done before. Also, the 18-minute ”Chalice” - from which I find much Elysian Blaze influences, by the way - drags on a bit too long, giving too much emphasis on the power of repetition. The song does get better towards the end when e.g. choirs appear, but is prolonged overall.

Certain moments on ”Monastery” are very good and otherwise the whole Caduceus Chalice is decent, but in the end it doesn’t provide anything that would capture my interest entirely, most likely because of the similarity to the aforementioned band: these dissonant melodies, effected vocals and drums machines are all heard before. Those who are in love with Xasthur’s eerie, dissonant music (and haven’t had enough of that band’s massive discography) might find Caduceus Chalice a worthy investment. Be sure to act quickly, though, this tape seems to be limited to just 100 copies.
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