Metal Debate Album Review - Horned Lord Of The Thorned Castle (Moonlight Sorcery)

The Great Metal Debate Podcast

Welcome back to The Great Metal Debate podcast. Today we will be looking at the Finish black metal band Moonlight Sorcery. This is the band's first full length debut album titled Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle, released September 29th through Avant-garde Music. Last year's EP titled Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity, we got some noticeable guitar riffs that didn't quite break through that obvious power metal sound yet. Another EP that came out last year titled Nightwind: Conqueror from the Stars was a small improvement on the overall song writing. Earlier this year we got a single "In Coldest Embrace" which opened the door to much better studio production quality. They also did an amazing job on that Deep Purple cover for the song "Burn". For this debut we kick things off with "To Withhold The Day". Instantly we get an epic audible pummeling followed by the lower strings on the guitar fret making the listener close their eyes to take it all in. These sounds eventually lead you into an infectious melodic hook. Surprisingly there's even a wonderful guitar solo in this song as well which is much appreciated. Solos aren't the first thing you think of when you're talking about black metal so even if they're not reinventing the wheel, it's so refreshing. Next up is that aforementioned single from earlier this year. It's good but we're not going to dwell on it for too long. In fact, we'll skip ahead to "The Secret of Steaming Blood". Love that title by the way. That opening chug riff before vocalist Ruttomieli screams the name of the song "THE SECRET OF STEAMING BLOOD" before the rest of the lyrics definitely got my blood steaming. Maybe the secret is to play this song. Let me tell you, despite its intentionally raw sound, the riffs are still groovy! It's all thanks to the 2 guitarists. One of them who is labeled as the rhythm player goes by the name Haaska and the other who is the lead, also credited as the bassist. Speaking of not being able to pronounce things, we have the next track which starts with the letter Y. It looks like it says "Yonsilma". Those dots above the O and the A indicated that I did not say that correctly. But one thing I will say is that despite them being in the background behind the vocals, the shredding guitar work is face melting! "Vihan Verhon Takka" continues the trend of the guitar work knocking your socks off with those pinch harmonic style riffs. I didn't think I was going to be treated to such an imposing power metal presence in the overall tone but boy am I glad it's here to stay. Throughout the album we get so many symphonic elements sprinkled into the songs. There's so much variety here and I doubt that any fan of black metal would get bored. To further prove my point, we have "The Moonlit Dance of the Twisted Jester's Blood-soaked Rituals". It has a winding guitar riff and a few crazy yet maniacal laughs and there's no vocals. That's right, this one is a jaw dropping instrumental track. Most interludes like this are calm, but not this one. This one is relentless! "Fire Burns The Horizon" takes you straight back to the blistering cold black metal experience and casts a spell on you after its second half which causes the listener to become even more entranced. The echoey sounding voice that you hear feels like it's coming from deep within a dark cave. "Into the Silvery Shadows of Night" is a relaxing tune with haunting screeches. Dor the concluding song, "Suden Tie (Wolven Hour pt. 2)," "Wolven Hour" was a song title on the Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity - EP so it's cool that there's a follow-up to it. It's an amazing way to end a solid debut album. When I say that Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle is a solid debut, I genuinely mean that! This is hands down one of my favorite black metal albums of the year and gets a 9.5 out of 10 from me.