Thirdmoon "Bloodforsaken" CD Napalm Records 2000

Repulsed by the album cover, many have chosen to write off Austra's Thirdmoon and this release in particular. I have to say, I was nearly floored by the muscle displayed here, eschewing melodeath stereotypes and lacing such with a blackened substrate and overall cinematic flair. Take "Catharsis in Azure" for example, which displays haunting, ethereal synth backings, quaint leads and tortured grotesque vocals that comes off like a slightly more melodeath-inclined take on Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. Dissonance is palpable at points of Bloodforsaken, and production values thick enough to cut through with a knife equip the riffs with a primal sonic vortex with which to deliver the band's above average riffage with style.
Certainly less overtly inspired by the then-peaking Gothenburg scene, Thirdmoon feature a similar blackened edge to later Dissection, and their riffs have a similar tense aspect in regards to how the notation flows seamlessly between both extremes, although never committing wholly to one spectrum. Reedy, barbed tremolos, swinging grooves, ephemeral traditional metal posturing; Bloodforsaken has a lot to offer even the casual listener, feeling like a formidable and menacing alternative to genre conventions. Eschewing low-brow groove in the traditional sense, breakdowns like the pre-solo section of "Fractured Abandonment" feel heavy as fuck. Riffs are saturated in epic flair without devolving into bombast, and while there is a marginal use of keyboards, they never steal the spotlight from what really counts.
The punchy, stolid gate of "Fallen Skin Dimension's" chugging intervals contrasts mightily with the languid tremolo remainder, existing as one of the many gems on Bloodforsaken. Tunes hover at a safe four-and-a-half minute average, and there is a lot of good stuff to choose from here, most often due to the expertly-plotted rhythm guitar notation, not necessarily the lead work. The leads are competent, basked in the aforementioned blackened ichor but overwhelmed by the callous, ragged edge of the rhythm. Thirdmoon are more than capable of penning sticky leads, but they rarely occupy the major keys nominally associated with melodic death.
With a mildly-Swedish buzzsaw element to the guitar tone, the album doesn't sound overproduced yet monstrous. The volatile, mid-paced blasting of "Buried Awakening" displays the dry pop of the drums, which are snappy and dexterous. The militant, ballistic gallop of "Costal Angels" is another standout in an album full of them. Bloodforsaken is one of the better death/black mashups I have come across in recent memory. I can't think of any sector wherein the album overtly fails, even if it isn't the most groundbreaking material ever penned. Don't let the cover art turn you away, this is impressive stuff.

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