Review: Secrets of the Moon - “Privilegivm” (2009)
Secrets of the Moon seems like one of those bands that would cause black metal purists to start twitching involuntarily. These guys are obviously not out to make typical, minimalistic black metal, nor are they trying to impress anyone with the speed and technicality of their music. Given the band’s self-applied ‘occult black metal’ label, it’s pretty easy to jump to conclusions about how Privilegivm might to sound, particularly if you haven’t heard their music before. But dismissing this album because of a perceived lack of traditional black metal credentials would be a mistake.
Instead of bare-bones production and buzzsaw guitars, Privilegivm often takes a deliberate, slow-burn approach with simple, power-chord based riffing and dominant, pounding drums. Secrets of the Moon seem to favor a doomier approach to help create the sinister atmosphere that pervades this album; much of the music is moderately paced, and aside from the blackened vocals and eerie minor-key leads, there are also some thrashier riffs here and there along with plenty of traditional heavy metal brutality. It’s easy to imagine audiences screaming along to the viciously infectious chorus sections of songs like ‘I Maladror,’ ‘Harvest,’ ‘For They Know Not’ and especially the opener ‘Sulphur.’ The album also benefits from excellent production which lets the intricate drumming and crunching guitars dominate.
As great as Privilegivm is for blasting and headbanging until your neck is sore, I’d recommend giving the album a few passes through headphones as well, because otherwise it’s easy to miss some of the subtle touches that make the album a very rewarding listen. Stuff like Rammstein-esque crowd roars in ‘Black Halo’, spoken word vocals in the background here and there, and small tweaks in riffs and chords show that Secrets of the Moon really put in some time to keep things interesting and varied throughout. The moody closer track ‘Shepherd,’ which features clean vocals, guitar solos and some keyboards, seems to be a highlight for a lot of people but I couldn’t really get into it. Aside from that though, Privilegivm is a pretty kickass album that has grown on me quite a bit.
