•
Rating: In just under 40 seconds, violence takes shape in the most devastating and dark way you have ever heard. 40 seconds and hell breaks loose; as if the box where you keep all your frustrations, promises made and not kept, broken dreams was suddenly uncovered.
Symphony in Moonlight and Nightmares represents all of this.
I've rarely had the chance to feel such true, unconstructed anger explode without even giving you the time to think, to do something... you'll be left speechless. The album that contains this little gem is Epitome of Illusions by the Norwegians (strange, right?!?) Limbonic Art, a duo composed of Daemon engaged in his alienated and alienating screaming at the edge of human (beyond which there is only Burzum) and of Morpheus who takes care of the entire musical part and drum machine programming, and by listening to the entire production of Limbonic Art, one can easily say that the genius of these two Norwegians has no equal within the black (symphonic) metal community.
In reality, Epitome of Illusion is a collection of demos composed before their first official release: that Moon in the Scorpio, judged by many as the pinnacle of symphonic black metal of the 90s, and this is why the songs are not really the best, indeed some are quite poor. See, in this regard, track number five Solace of The Shadows.
Others like Eve of Midnight might be appealing after the first listens but after prolonged listening tend to become tiring, especially due to the somewhat "baroque" and slightly cliché keyboard arrangements, due to their lack of experience.
The true nature of Limbonic Art is only revealed in the aforementioned Symphony in Moonlight and Nightmares and in the very strange Sources to Agonies where a splendid string score intertwines with Daemon's sick and unexpectedly melodic screaming to create a true masterpiece, perhaps one of the few black metal ballads I have ever come across.
In conclusion, a half masterpiece, between songs that could have been better and others that represent an excellent calling card. Buy it only if at a very low price (I found it for 7€).
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Eve of Midnight (07:40)
Join in for a dance with the dead
A ceremonial requiem for the gods
When the moon is drained by all its light
On burial ground we gather in the night
Burning candles, incantations
Witches sabbath with unholy craft
Screams and laughter pierce the art
Like a haunting chant through the atmosphere
The dance is held to the end
When the shades of darkness transcend
Beside the ancient lake beneath the spelling moon
Across the fields of hallowed tombs
Join us, walk among us
Mysticus Magus Manifesto Spectaculum Mortuus Exercilor
We are they who adore the vast midnight skies
Where stars they shines like serpent eyes
We'll free thy soul from its chain
Arrive with thunderstorms and rain
From the darkest abyss graveland unfolds
Oh hear the distant echoes call
The eve of midnight a host supreme
Open thy world unseen
Eve of midnight
He who holds the book of sights
Shall be the ruler of the night
03 Path of Ice (06:19)
Journey into your darkened secrets
Feel the burning flame inside
Admit the ecstacy of the extreme
Just close the eyes and enjoy the override
When we adrift through the sensual streams
The enchanted pains are so divine
There are thorns everywhere
But along the path of ice rose blooms above
Blood is the rose of mysterious unions
The symbol of potency
A taste of erotic sins of lust
The entrance of immortality
There are such sights to see
Adventures and pleasures to feel
The dormant seeds of suffering
The art of mortal flesh that bleed
Indulged in desire, the forbidden soul empire
Path of ice
The entrance to immortality
Cold winds pierce through me
As my darkstar unfolds
I ascend the throne of fantasies
Where the beautiful abyss recalls
05 Solace of the Shadows (06:56)
I require the solace of the shadows
So the night can be redeemed
As the winds of darkness whispers my name
A kiss of death I receive
Nocturnal enchanter to thy art I yield
Within the candlelight a rapture is sealed
I set the stones for invoking ceremonies
In the twilight zones arise abstract galaxies
The magic eye unveils the blackened skies
A new horizon begins to each one that dies
The desolation makes me feel
So dark, so cold, the silence
So dark, so cold, the emptiness
Solace of the shadows
Night surrounds and embraces me
Darkness holds the secrets of man's fears
It captures my heart as the purgatory sears
I cast now the spell as I cross through raging flames
Into darkness cursing names
I require the solace of the shadows
So the night can be redeemed
Nocturnal enchanter to thy art I yield
Within the candlelight a rapture is now revealed
Loading comments slowly
