Lunar Tombfields was built over decline.
Created during the pandemic in 2020 in France, the band created by M. (guitar/bass/vocals, Absolvtion, Defenestration), quickly joined by Äzh (drums/guitar, Natremia, Defenestration) offer us The Eternal Harvest in 2022.
The band’s sound begins with a slow and melancholic introduction on which Dolorès alights haunting vocals, then instruments come over. Some percussions to begin, then the rhythmic of The Ancestral Conjuration floods us in a second to welcome tortured vocals, adding a tragical and raw aspect to the majestic sound. Orchestrations join weighing riffs, allowing us to breathe before making pure blackness spawn again, and it will literally explode before the end of the track, then As the Spirit Wanes, the Form Appears reconnects with a dark quietness. Some whispers on the beginning let place to this suffocating rhythmic, alternating between a wall of blast and some regular strikes topped by heady melodies, but the fog of sound also offers an intense progression into darkness to expose us best to its unchained violence. Incisive harmonics drive us to the ice-cold A Dialogue With the Wounded Stars, a composition with enhanced leads which does not hesitate to make us sink into the depths of darkness before making its rhythmic accelerate. Wild screams continue to haunt this picture of despair before Doom influences join the heady sound and allow some words to get away from the mass they trap us in. The album comes to an end with Drowning in the Wake of Dreams and its very straightforward Old School influences which allow musicians to weave their violence into this airy and weighing veil. The song will also be subjecting to rhythm changes, creating a dynamic to suffering and blackness, which will slowly fade away.
Since the first seconds, Lunar Tombfields surrounds us with a veil of blackness which seems to be endless. The Eternal Harvest is a very consistent and weighing album which allows them to play with influences and melancholic sonorities while permanently keeping us out of breath, which makes it an unique experience.
85/100