Release Date: April 04th 2025. Record Label: Limited Fanfare Records. Formats: DD/Vinyl
She Walks By Moonlight - Tracklisting
1.She Walks By Moonlight
2.The Nearness of June
3.Only 0
4.Set Them Free
5.A Song For Jade
6.Losing Sleep
7.Echoes (The Empress)
8.Metallic Memories
9.Sway
Members:
Juan Montoya - Guitar
Evan Diprima - Drums/Synthesizers
Charlie Suárez - Vocals/Guitar/Synthesizers
Arnold Nese - Bass
Review
She Walks By Moonlight is the debut full length album from Alternative/Psych/Stoner Rockers Moon Destroys who features current members/ex members of bands such as TORCHE, Stallone, Monstro, Royal Thunder, Gold Pyramid and Sunday Driver. With a rich creative pedigree in their ranks, their debut album is quite different to what I expect when compared to their excellent debut EP Maiden Voyage which I reviewed all the way back in 2020.
As the band fuse moments of Post-Rock, Alt-Rock, Post-Punk and Dark Wave sounds within the core Sludge/Stoner Metal aspect from where the heaviest grooves are built from. The sound can be quite gloomy and atmospheric with sounds that can easily be comparable to TORCHE and ROYAL THUNDER but with Moon Destroys building a closer affinity to the 1980’s Alt Rock and Electronica scenes especially with Charlie Suárez gloomy vocals. Moon Destroys develop a heavy Psychedelic Stoner Rock presence with the powerful guitars that I recognised instantly from Juan Montoya’s work with TORCHE and MONSTRO where he’s superbly joined by Charlie on guitar duties.
Evan Diprima’s intelligent and progressive drums add a real sense of urgency to the album with a calm delivery that elevates into some of his heaviest work I’ve heard from Evan in a long time. Charlie provides synths which add a gloomy and doom-pop texture with the recent addition of Arnold Nese on bass which solidifies Moon Destroys as a much better unit compared to their debut EP.
The record does have many different themes, ideas and sounds running throughout with a lush Post-Rock energy emitting from the quieter tracks on the album such She Walks By Moonlight, Set Them Free, A Song For Jade, Echoes (The Empress) and Sway. Though, the heavier parts of the record is where the heaviest, aggressive, frantic and highly melodic instrumental passages appear that allows Moon Destroys to easily stand on their own creative merits as a great band in their own right.
If you’re a fan of the recent outstanding new album DIVINER by Museum Of Light then you’ll no doubt love She Walks By Moonlight. As both records have similar sounds and ideas but are told slightly different. The added use of world weary Electronics and Synths adds an Ambient and Cinematic feel to Moon Destroys music which can be completely peaceful and tranquil one moment and completely bombastic and destructive the next.
She Walks By Moonlight is an exquisite and deeply rewarding album which will surprise you in many different ways with the band moving into a wide array of different sounds that defy genre expectations. This is about as perfect a debut album as you could possibly expect and I’m hoping there’s more great records from Moon Destroys in the future.
Awesome. End Of.
Words by Steve Howe
