Lunar Spells "Sacraments Of Necromantical Empires" CD Digipack

Descripción Collector's Edition in 6-panel Digipack, limited to 999 copies.
For years I have been getting further into the sounds of late 80's and early 90's black metal. With every classic of the subgenre I pick up my understanding expands and my taste for the raw urgent anger of its sound grows. With the release of Lunar Spells third full length album Sacraments of Necromantical Empires I really feel that this criminally underrated Greek band have nailed that sound and expanded it with terrific guitar hooks, cathartic screams, and drums that might just be the highlight of the whole piece... (it's the guitar hooks, but damn the drums are good).
Now this isn't to say that the band or album are stuck in arrested development, while it sounds overblown in the nostalgic sounds of the raw black metal genre it is still brilliantly mixed and mastered to make every instrument stand out and the whole mix feel full and rich. While the drumming is pummeling at breakneck speed the guitar dances between it with instantly earworm catchiness and precision, there is even audible bass here. The vocals howl and screech their way through each track, leaving breathing room between movements to let the guitar work shine and the compositions to unravel.
Speed is truly the key to this album as the guitars tremolo pick their way from the moment they fade in on the opener Eerie Nocturnal Shade, to the moment the penultimate track Luciferian Twilight comes to a close. The final closing track of the album Gloomy Necrotic Ritual is a solemn expanse of mournful synth/organ, and this is where I mention that there has indeed been keyboard playing underneath the whole album adding extra texture and weight to each track. The comparison to early Emperor come to mind when thinking of the way the keyboard is partnered with the tracks though not nearly as overbearing as it often feels in symphonic black metal, here it is very much a part of the fabric of the songs rather than an overbearing orchestra trying to overtake the songs.
The only downsides I have with this album are that the relentless speed can feel quite exhausting by the end of the album, and the fantastic riffing out of Necromantical Glorification and into the next track Sorcery of Death feel quite similar to the point that it must be deliberate but make the two songs meld together into what feels like one long 13 minute break neck epic that as much as I love it feels too much. Having said this, these are two of my favourite tracks on the album so is it really a downside after all?
In all I truly enjoyed this album to the point of holding it as maybe my favourite black metal release of 2024. Do your ears a favor and put on this excellent piece of black gold and behold the sacraments of raw black metal.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=QQreRUVFoPU&list=RDQQreRUVFoPU&start_radio=1&t=18s