The Moon Mistress - Silent Voice Inside (2012)

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The Moon Mistress - Silent Voice Inside (2012)

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One of the more unique doom bands on the planet would have to be The Moon Mistress from Russia. I always knew they were something special ever since I first heard their demo work, even more so on the 'Obsessed by Cursed Wastelands' split album with Snakerider. Now with their first full-length release, the band has truly come of age with 63 minutes of captivating, atmospheric doom metal that goes way beyond what I was expecting.

The first thing to leap out of the speakers at me was the overall tempo of this beast is slower overall than anything they did before and they are also more bass-laden and heavy. They have fine-tuned their sound but haven't lost their knack of delivering angry, pummeling doom metal pieces that avoid the usual plod or chug that most traditional doom metal bands have.

Speaking of genres; for a doom album, this is pretty original. It still can only fall under the traditional or stoner doom banner but their distinctive sound puts them in a class of their own. This album has been released on drummer Mitya’s own label, Pestis Insaniae Records and with fine production and album art that highlights the in-your-face bleakness of the album, this is a complete package.

The opening waves of feedback that is the intro piece 'Gate One' leads into the tribal, primitive doom of 'Cremation Meditation' and already the album has a hypnotic vibe that draws the listener in. The sound is heavier and more down-tuned, and bass heavy with gorgeous warm guitar tones. Clean and charismatic vocals launch into screams at times which makes this sound even more like a tribalists piece but as with the bands past works, there is a psychedelic edge as well just lurking below the surface. Being the diverse act that they are, they change gears ever so slightly on the next passage titled 'The Wicker Man' which is over 10 minutes of a funeral doom/psychedelic doom blend. This epic track is sinister and frankly kind of deranged. The guitar is insane, literally breaking into psychotic leads and warped doom riffing. Over the 10 minutes of The Wicker Man the effect is one of total and complete hypnotizing doom as the track transports the mind into the cosmic realms of an otherworldly space and time.

They change gears once again for 'Cease to Exist' which is a raw, faster, straight-forward piece of hard rock, not really doom metal with this one. Think 70's upbeat Black Sabbath or Pentagram and you will get the picture. However they still manage to do it in the totally unique way so even if this track does have those influences, you don't hear it much at all. 'Cease To Exist' catapults itself along for almost 7 minutes but ends up sounding like a 4 minute catchy little rocker and I must give kudos for the concise songwriting on this one. 'Invocation to Hecate' ups the epic doom scale just that little bit further with 11:40 of melodic yet twisted doom. The band is Russian but the influence here seems to be coming from the Asia (or is that just me?). This is really the only track that tends to lose my interest after a while, usually about 7 minutes into the piece but it is still well worth sitting through. Some of the melody lines are majestic and as with a lot of their songs, they have a slight progressive rock twist which showcases their musical abilities.

'Gate Two' is a brief interlude that sets up more tribal atmosphere for the sonic intensity that is 'Samsara.' Combining the rich, warm tones that I mentioned earlier of not just the guitar but the bass as well, this track evolves over 5 minutes and ends up insanely infectious. It doesn't seem overly catchy at first but somehow gets stuck in your head anyway. The album then enters the most difficult and challenging part of the album to sit through with the 16 minutes of the title track and the closing piece named after the band themselves 'The Moon Mistress.' These two tracks take up over 22 minutes of the albums running time so they do seem like top-heavy pieces considering both pieces don't bring anything new to the album. Despite the fact that it is just more of the same; the same is very good indeed so it is not too much of a stretch to listen to this album right to the very end. The title track especially seems to sum up everything the band is about in its 16 minutes; which is epic, slow, foreboding but distinctive doom metal.

Some bands can take five years or more to finally come to their own way of doing things. The Moon Mistress have managed it in just 2 years and this is an exciting release that despite a couple of questionably long extended passages, it is an easy 63 minute album to listen to. Turn it up and the sounds wash over you at times while at other times, they surround you with choking thick ambience. This is a captivating release that deserves to be played from start to finish every-time you put it on

~ 9/10 by doommantia.com