The Weeping Moon

Drowning the Light released this EP, entitled "The Weeping Moon", in 2008. Around this time, DTL was 5 years old and had already released 5 full-length albums, around 12 or so demos, a few compilations, splits and another EP. Azgorh has gained a reputation for being one of the busiest figureheads in black metal due to his dedication to quantity, but also quality releases. This EP is a short two song affair which spans a total length of 19 and a half minutes and follows the depressive black metal formula throughout. This is not a mind-blowing EP, but it is quite good and worth a listen.

The title track makes up the first half of the EP, and is probably the strongest track on here. It begins with a beautiful, somber guitar riff. This riff is extremely simple in nature and sounds fairly similar to what other bands in this vein of black metal produce. Throughout the EP, the pace of the music ranges from slow and melancholic to slightly above mid-paced, with the title-track containing some blast beats here and there and some faster guitar riffing. But this is not a standard black metal EP and should not be treated like one, rather be treated as a depressive black metal EP. The following track, entitled "The Ruined Soul of a Blackened Past", is probably the lesser of the two in my opinion. It's still a long track, running at 9 and a half minutes, but it's not as effective as the title-track and doesn't boast the same quality in my opinion. It still contains the beautiful, sad, raw yet melodic riffing DTL has pretty much always been known for but it's just not as good to my ears. The synth flute towards the end of this song really is something to behold, however. It's gorgeous and adds a somewhat medieval sound to the song.

Some may see this as just another release in Azgorh's endless catalog of black metal melancholy but it is still a very strong listen, and chances are if you enjoy most of what this guy has put out, you'll eat this up as well. It's probably one of his more depressing releases, probably up there with "Drowned" in terms of misery and sadness, and that's maybe a huge strong point of this EP.

This is another work by this band that like the Serpent’s Reign features the input of … - a guitarist of great renown here (or at least in some enlightened circles). As such I was keen to hear this – another piece of the same session enacted back a few years that resulted in the aforementioned album as well as DTL’s side of the Arkha Sva split.

So. What this is, is a two-track EP, the copy in my stereo being the Winterreich tape release. The opening strains of melancholy clean guitar give way to a sorrowful, streaming guitar wash and frantic drums marking out the path forward. There is a very nice ring to all the instruments here – it’s slightly different to the usual DTL transgressions into dustyness and crust, this being cleaner and more streamlined. The clear, reverbed drum sound with no signs of compression complements the organic sound very well. Azgorh’s vocals are the usual shrill, raspy deal – but you’d be used to it now if you were with us so far. What’s unusual is probably the clear and well-played bass as well as some guitar layering, which you don’t normally hear on DTL releases. Track 2 has a nice acoustic overlay that contributes to the sad downcast atmosphere of this entire piece. It’s got that proud yet sorrowful marching feel to it, that you hear on Eastern European BM releases, if you know what I mean. The reasons for how this sounds are probably a lot more clear to me than the average listener, but I think sometimes it is better not to know because too much of this knowledge tends to make one deconstruct what they are hearing too much. Instead, you can just relax and enjoy it. Overall, it’s a very solid EP, with a great melancholy atmosphere. Production-wise this is probably one of my favourite DTL releases.

Originally published in Procession of Black Doom zine #4