Release Date: April 05th 2024. Record Label: Ripcord Records. Formats: CD/DD
II: Aging & Formless- Tracklisting
1.Nomad
2.Nocturnal Passenger
3.Procession
4.Breach The Sky
5.The Breathing of Monsters
6.Fall...Still
7.Bury Me With The Fallen Trees
Members
Andy Price - Bass
John Davidson - Guitar
Ray Arrell - Vocals
Scott Taylor - Guitar
Steve Humphreys - Drums
Review
Post-Metal collective Vnder A Crvmbling Moon return with their second full length album with II: Aging & Formless which continues the Post-Metal journey heard on their acclaimed debut release I: Oblivion. That record showed a band forged by the creative forces of Doom Metal, Post-Metal, Sludge Metal and Post-Black Metal dynamics for a mournful journey that captured a soulful Psychedelic energy within the harsher and extreme movements of the Post-Metal arena.
Vnder A Crvmbling Moon don’t stray away from that mission with this new album with a more Post-Doom and Post-Black Metal dominated sound which has moments of classic sounding Ambient Heavy and Prog Metal guitars aligning to the band’s overall sound. The whole tone can ultimately be described as a “destructive force of nature” where the band wisely use uplifting Post-Rock cinematic themes with the more aggressive melodies that the band use as their main weapon to impress listeners with.
Taking cues from bands such as Neuroris, Cult Of Luna, ISIS and Russian Circles within their music but with a Black Metal outlook being injected into the overall dynamics that drift eerily to their next destructive target.
Each track is beautifully deconstructed to the more pitch-black sound that Vnder A Crvmbling Moon excels at with swirling Ambient rhythms and Progressive melodies on each individual track which showcases some of the best Post-Metal musicians the UK scene has to offer with members of the band previously being part of bands such as Garganjua, Conjurer and Codex Alimentarius.
There’s a lush contemporary Black Metal or Blackened Sludge Metal energy heard on outstanding tracks such as: Nomad, Nocturnal Passenger, Breach The Sky, The Breathing Of Monsters and Bury Me With The Fallen Trees. These tracks are lengthy compositions with the tracks running between eight minutes to thirteen minutes in length but Vnder A Crvmbling Moon never overstays their welcome. They deliver music that is always welcoming despite the brutal onslaught of Post-Metallic sounds though the extra level of uplifting Post-Rock energy gives the album a deeply emotional core you don’t initially expect.
II: Aging & Formless can be quite experimental with Vnder A Crvmbling Moon never playing it safe and delivering a haunting journey of complex sounding Post-Metal melodies with the added aggression of Black Metal sounds that work its magic with the more Sludge Metal dominated parts of the album.
Overall, this is a superbly constructed and highly creative album which showcases why Vnder A Crvmbling Moon are quietly solidifying and building up their place as one of the most interesting creative forces within the UK Post-Metal scene.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Ripcord Records for the promo.
II: Aging & Formless will be available to buy on CD/DD via Ripcord Records from Friday April 05th 2024.
Links
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