Review Summary: Hell or Valhalla
Golden notes dance across a sheet of cinematic chanting, it’s a perfect opening to the world of “God Of Nothingness”, showing the vast landscape that
Sun Dethroned is. Moonshade a mythos to itself.
It’s not everyday you fall completely in love with something for what it is. You take the good with the bad, the hardships and the triumph and yet, your opinion remains steadfast, solid and reliable. It’s easy to say I’m in love with what makes Moonshade’s
Sun Dethroned’s so catchy, and rock solid while also recognising the album’s flaws as minor and superfluous to mention in print. It’s a wedding of sounds, consummated in slightly Amon Amarth tinged, Insomnium laced layering of all things godly.
While the sheer vocal range of Ricardo Pereira is impressive; high screams transition easily into guttural growls, providing the very flesh to the tight bones of musicianship that runs the album’s forty-six minutes. The melodic face that Moonshade presents allows for the usual catchy flair. Hooks come and go, but there’s nothing tiring about
Sun Dethroned when observed separately, or as a whole. Moonshade’s debut (made all the more impressive because of that singular fact) is a steady effort, yet diverse only when it needs to be, rather than the complete sake of it. The opener, “God Of Nothingness” sets an uncluttered, yet primarily fierce tone. A seven minute epic may feel daunting at first but as the driving beats found within the album’s opening moments couple with Pereira’s shrieks and growls a story is formed, told craftily and with the utmost conviction. It’s moments like these that push past the confinement of particular genre sounds and offer something more.
Subtle twists continue as Moonshade offer up the likes of “Lenore” and “World Torn Asunder”. While both stylistically from the same sharpened knife, each stands on the opposite blade, conforming only enough to carry the band’s message, a quest of necessary pain. The death motif may have had its day in the hands of many metal acts over the years but
Sun Dethroned keeps the tale fresh while being forever planted in the roots of melodically charged death metal. Both tracks are particularly natural and rather fluid. There’s an underlying atmosphere that ties one track to the next without meshing them together. With every new track the listener turns the page and embraces a new chapter in the story.
As the notes dance on the precipice, it’s only fair to realise that Moonshade’s debut is not perfect, but made all the better for its roughened is edge. Fall in love with the story, love something for what it is and what it could become, but make sure you stick around for all the little imperfections that make
Sun Dethroned the expanse you needed within yourself.
