Crimson Moonlight: Abaddon | Extreme Metal Is Safe
(Endtime Productions – 2023)
Undoubtedly, in the (Un)Black Metal category, Crimson Moonlight must be one of the best reflections of the extreme movement that allows itself to have a christian message in its lyrics, unlike the rest of the Black Metal movement. Crimson Moonlight has been growing since their first full-length, “The Covenant Progress”, noticing a great evolution in their music, which is demonstrated in their latest release, precisely the work we have now in our hands.
Crimson Moonlight’s last album (“Divine Darkness”) dates back to 2016. Since then, the band has remained silent, participating in some compilation and releasing as singles, some of the songs that we now have in this “Abaddon”, which has EP format, way to edit in physical format those songs, which in itself is already a reason for applause.
Crimson Moonlight chose to release three songs, which were already known for their release on digital platforms “Wings Of Death” and “Akal Abaddon”, adding for the occasion the song “Jackals”. Instead of releasing a full-length, they released this EP with these three songs, which leave us a little taste, but not because they are bad songs, but on the contrary, “Abaddon” leaves you halfway because it makes you want to listen to a little more. You can notice a great evolution from the early days of Crimson Moonlight. This version of the band turns out to be much more hard-hitting, dark, extreme, with a rough and stripped-down sound. It doesn’t give you a break for a single minute. Crimson Moonlight’s style is embodied in Old School Black Metal, with a sound that modernizes their proposal but without watering down their extreme proposal at any time.
Crimson Moonlight does not appeal to orchestrations with keyboards or instruments foreign to Metal. It is a basic formation which is used to achieve an overloaded and powerful sound. The result is very good and was recorded, mixed and produced by the band itself and Ulf Blomberg at Hoborec Studios, located in Sweden.
This physical edition is well worth the money. In spite of being only an EP, it has a correct cover, a graphic section in the inner envelope, which contains the lyrics, technical data of this work and very good photographs of the band, adding a phrase written in Hebrew, which, not knowing the language, we can hardly decipher.
In short, it is clear that today, Crimson Moonlight is one of the most important acts that the style has to offer, with a proposal perhaps different in its lyrical proposal but that impacts tremendously from the musical and artistic point of view. This EP titled “Abaddon” serves as a kind of sample of the current state of health of the band, very good indeed, but at this point deserves the release of a full-length that manages to capture this great moment of the band.
To get this EP, you can try https://www.endtimeproductions.com.
