Fullmoon "United Aryan Evil" Cassette

When people mention black metal the inevitable direction the mind wanders is to the Norwegian black metal scene of the early nineties. It is my opinion that this period and this time saw the most creative, varied and best albums from the black metal genre and if not the entire metal genre as a whole. From the minimalist albums of Darkthrone, the complex and synth-laden work of Emperor, to the ambient and mesmerising songs of Burzum, there is such variation for just one part of a sub-genre.
So these are the bands that most people exploring the genre hear about and start exploring, and for good reason. However there are other bands from this period that were creating works just as good and with the equal amount of spirit, and searching for these bands is how I came across this demo, which I believe is one of the finest examples of black metal released.
I will admit I came across this release thorough hearing that Rob Darken of Graveland fame arranged some of the keyboards on this demo. As Graveland was a band I was getting into, especially the mesmerising “Thousand Swords”, I thought I would give this one a try.
The first thing you will notice is the very strange production. It is not really a harsh production, however it is very thin, with all the instruments washing over you creating one sound, despite every instrument being heard very easily. This is actually quite effective for the more ambient black metal releases as the sound should not be as jarring as the production necessary for the faster style.
This demo consists of an intro, an instrumental, an outro and three longer black metal tracks. The tracks are of good length so the demo is in fact just the length of a short album. All three of the tracks are composed absolutely brilliantly, consisting of mainly mid-paced black metal washing over you like an army through a vast landscape. Every riff heard seems to flow perfectly from the one before, meaning the music actually goes somewhere and remains interesting and fresh throughout. Also, as I mentioned, the keyboard is absolutely perfect, being used only when necessary (I’m looking at you, Emperor) to create an epic ambience that Darken is so excellent at achieving. The instruments are played capably, although every part is very simple, what makes the album so interesting is the dynamics of these compositions.
I must also mention the vocals. These are an acquired taste as they are performed in a croaked way rather than a shriek. Although this did take some getting used to, I came to realised that these kind of vocals are necessary for the music as a shriek may have interfered too much with the atmosphere, however this aggressive yet restrained croak intertwines with the music much more affectively in my opinion.
The shorter atmospheric tracks also serve good purpose here. Mainly being precursors of war sounds that add to the incredible atmosphere the album creates, the interlude also being a nice touch which has a well-fitting folk vibe to it. Strangely enough the whole demo has a folk vibe to it to me which works amazingly when summoning up imagery of large battlefields and epic battles.
Overall I would say this is definitely one of the best black metal releases of the early nineties and if you have the chance to pick it up I thoroughly recommend it for its originality, incredible atmosphere and some of the best song construction I have ever heard.

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