Marble Moon

"Marble Moon" is a short EP that shows Nokturnal Mortum's folkier side serving as the middle man between the heavily keyboard driven "Goat Horns" and the Emperor worship album "To the Gates of Blasphemous Fire". Any fans of Nokturnal Mortum will want to pick this up, as many of these songs aren't found on other releases. (Technically more than half of them are, but are instead on Ukrainian versions which are much harder to find).

There are only 6 tracks, ranging from 1 minute to 6 minutes, but they go fast. Half of them aren't even metal, let alone any kind of black metal, but that's all well and good. The first track "Hymn of Ukraine" is one of my favorite instrumentals by Nokturnal Mortum because it has such a prideful, triumphant feel to it. As some of Ukrainian descent, this song is even more enjoyable.

Next is "On the Moonlight Path", also another one of my favorite Nokturnal Mortum songs. This track is also on "To the Gates.." but the production here is a little weaker. As one of the few black metal songs on "Marble Moon", it's extremely catchy as the guitars blend well with the folk instruments. The rhythm is quite haunting and it's tempting to head bang the entire way through. In fact, it may be one of the best Nokturnal Mortum songs ever.

The "Swallow" tracks are also catchy. The shorter one is just an instrumental featuring some odd instruments that isn't too long, while the metal version is about twice as longer. Both versions are fun to listen to in any case. Good opera-type vocals are found in the metal version and in that version the song tends exponentially increase in tempo as it closes out. Cool.

"Family Vault" is a bit of an oddball song. I've never heard the original, nor have I heard of the band being covered. It's the cheesiest song on the album, but this is one of Nokturnal Mortum's better covers compared to their silly sounding WASP and Motorhead covers (where you can't help but laugh at Varggoth's vocals during those two covers). Nice guitar work and piano combination on this track.

"Cheremosh" like "On the Moonlight path" is also found on "To the Gates.." but this song is just a quiet instrumental. It's the longest song on "Marble Moon" and doesn't have too much variety. Regardless, it's pretty soothing and they were smart to put it at the end as a kind of a relaxer to the faster songs in the beginning.

"Marble Moon" is pretty competent. It never comes off as pretentious, too elite, or too trying. Instead, it's a short, fun release that works well that can appeal to many metal fans regardless of their opinions on black metal. You can never go wrong with earlier Nokturnal Mortum.

Not the best Nokturnal Mortum release, it is though essential to any fan of earlier NM before the change to harsher sounds, it is particularly essential since now it is released with "Return of the Vampire Lord."
Beginning with an interesting introduction, the demo breaks way with a demo version of "On The Moonlight Path," which would be re-recorded for "To The Gates of Blasphemous Fire," on here it is similar sounding, but slightly less bombastic with a feeling more like "Goat Horns." After a short instrumental we have " Family Vault" a cover of Death SS, a band I am not familiar with, but goes with the cheesy metal covers that NM has been doing (like covering Motorhead, W.A.S.P, etc.). Not a bad song, a but strange for this band, but not bad.
Finally is the outro, which has some samples of a river, with some trippy drums, bass and guitars, along with some keyboard work. Essentially creating a folk-y atmosphere that is interestingly similar to the work of bands like the Screaming Trees.
On the "Return of the Vampire Lord/Marble Moon," release there is also two extra covers attached, "My Journey to the Stars" by Burzum and "Turisaz" by Graveland.
Both are excellent covers, doing the originals justice while also bringing NM's own feeling to the mix.
This is a bit short, but it has some good moments, and when packaged with "The Return of the Vampire Lord" is becomes an essential piece of the puzzle for the transition of NM.

Released shortly after Goat Horns, the Marble Moon Demo is a good listen for those who wish to hear a band in transition. Marble Moon harbors elements found in Goat Horns, and the release after Marble Moon, To The Gates Of Blasphemous Fire. It has the folk influences of Goat Horns, while infusing it with the more aggressive style of To The Gates Of Blasphemous Fire. The speed, aggression, folk elements, and harsh vocals make this an album with many memorable moments.

The folk parts on the songs are done very well throughout the entire album. There are some rhythmic keyboard laced riffs in On The Moonlight Path that are done in the style of Finntroll, they have a polka influenced feel to them. This adds more power the song and helps the flow of it tremendously. As On The Moonlight Path progresses the vocals will become more enraged, harsher, and aggressive. The guitars will become faster and more complex allowing themselves to stand out more and do unique things. On The Moonlight Path starts out strong and ends even stronger. It is the most aggressive song on the album since it tends to focus more on harsh progression and intensity, which leaves little room for a focus on folk elements.

After On The Moonlight Path, a short intermediate song follows. A keyboard based song that sounds most like medieval music played at a festival or something of the likes. Unique is perhaps the best way to describe Nokturnal Mortum, I have not heard any band quite like them. Following the acoustic intermission is the most Unique song on this album, and perhaps of all Nokturnal Mortum is Family Vault. This song is the best example I have ever heard of fusing folk and black metal together. So many things are going on in this song, great keyboard work, operatic female vocals that go very well with the rhythm of the song, as well as some aggressive vocals and guitars. Family Vault has an amazing flow, its starts off with a quiet vocal intro with some keyboards behind them, then leading into an aggressive guitar laced with folk inspired keyboards and female vocals singing to the rhythm of the song. The song progresses very rapidly, getting more intense and aggressive, while retaining many unique folk elements. The chorus is extremely memorable, defiantly the most catchy part of this song and album. Family Vault builds itself up to a tremendous ending filled with intensity. This is easily one of Nokturnal Mortum’s best songs. It should be noted though that this song is a cover, so Nokturnal Mortum can not receive all the credit.

Marble Moon is a great short listen with some great memorable moments. Since this release is a demo, its obviously quite short. There are only three metal songs on it, and the last one has no vocals, its more of a raw, atmospheric folk song with acoustic guitar focus that plays over a running stream, its quite serene when the raw and dirty guitars riffs are not playing. For a demo this is perfect, it shows what the band can do, and it does it very well. All these songs can be found on the compilation Return Of The Vampire Lord/ Marble Moon. I suggest all black and folk metal fans purchase that compilation. To hear the songs on this amazing demo.