MOON DESTROYS is guitarist and songwriter Juan Montoya (ex-Torche, MonstrO) and drummer/bassist/producer Evan Diprima's (Gold Pyramid, ex-Royal Thunder) latest entry of sonically massive, swirling guitars and tight rhythmic counterpoints that recall classic Alternative, Post-Punk and Dark Wave sounds. The duo's 5-song EP, Maiden Voyage was released via Brutal Panda Records (Local H, Cherubs) in March of 2020 -- featuring guest vocalists Troy Sanders (of Mastodon) and Paul Masvidal (of Cynic) with Synthesizer contributions from The Sword's Bryan Richie.
It's been a long road to get to what would ultimately be the band's debut LP, She Walks By Moonlight, out April 4th, 2025 on Limited Fanfare Records (Palomino Blond, The Ettes, MonstrO.) Juan and Evan have worked together on a few projects previously that have led them down a path to a fruitful and creative working relationship...even while living 600 miles apart.
"Juan and I started writing new music in late 2023. Most of the basic tracks were recorded remotely with him living in Miami and me being up in North Carolina. Juan would start off with a riff, we’d record the scratch guitar track into Logic over FaceTime, I’d cut the drum track in my home studio, and then send the session back to Juan to track the final guitars." said Diprima of the origins of She Walks By Moonlight. What they both realized halfway through the recording process is that a key ingredient was missing...a permanent member to take over vocal duties. Diprima continued,
"Juan mentioned to me that he had reconnected with his former MonstrO [Vagrant Records] bandmate, Charlie Suárez. I've always loved his vocals and guitar playing and the three of us had formed a great friendship back then. We sent Charlie over a few songs...it was definitely meant to be!" With Suárez now head-first in the fold, his guitars, vocals and synth parts were tracked in Miami in the Summer of 2024 by Diprima, who handled most of the engineering and production duties – also mixing the album. She Walks By Moonlight was Mastered by Carl Saff (Sonic Youth, Magolia Electric Co., Melt-Banana) at Saff Mastering in Chicago, IL
She Walks By Moonlight's first single, the crushing and beautiful "The Nearness of June," displays Suárez's hypnotic incantations and emotional, lyrical depth that is stamped across the 9 song, 32-minute record. The pumping drive and layered build of "Echoes/The Empress" addresses "the repetitive in-between areas of human disconnect with overwhelming uncertainty and reflective conviction," and the slow-burn propulsion of "Only" at it's core is about "a series of unreasonable requests and exhausting pleas to another in hopes of amending the irreconcilable" states Suárez.
In late 2024, the band recruited Suárez's former Sunday Driver (Doghouse Records) bandmate, Arnold Nese, to fulfill bass duties and complete the lineup of Moon Destroys who will support Elder throughout the US and Canada in April 2025. - Brian Kurtz, Limited Fanfare
She Walks By Moonlight's first single, the crushing and beautiful "The Nearness of June," displays Suárez's hypnotic incantations and emotional, lyrical depth that is stamped across the 9 song, 32-minute record. The pumping drive and layered build of "Echoes/The Empress" addresses "the repetitive in-between areas of human disconnect with overwhelming uncertainty and reflective conviction," and the slow-burn propulsion of "Only" at it's core is about "a series of unreasonable requests and exhausting pleas to another in hopes of amending the irreconcilable" states Suárez.
In late 2024, the band recruited Suárez's former Sunday Driver (Doghouse Records) bandmate, Arnold Nese, to fulfill bass duties and complete the lineup of Moon Destroys who will support Elder throughout the US and Canada in April 2025. - Brian Kurtz, Limited Fanfare
She Walks By Moonlight is available for Pre-Order on Cassette/Digital/Vinyl and will be released on Friday April 04th 2025 via Limited Fanfare
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