The debut by this American quartet from the San Fernando Valley kicks off to a great start as they deliver their Gothenburg style Melodic Death Metal as they open with the title track “Dead Mother Moon” which immediately gets up to pace and remains unrelenting throughout. Wyatt’s drumming is fast and his changes to pace and tempo even quicker, thereby managing to switch to a blast after accompanying Ronny and Gage’s guitars through a laconically meandering passage in a fraction of a second.

“Onyx Through the Heart” feels even faster, until the guitar riff changes to a steadier chugging while bassist Xavier spews out his raspy growls and screeches that would have no problem impressing the Swedes of the ’90s.

A mighty roar for “My Destiny; A Weapon” adds to the heaviness of the extremely fast song as the flowing leads are played at blistering pace and even when the song settles for a quick bass solo before the next lead break, it never stops delivering anger and aggression.

More mid-tempo and melodic is “Dusk Sang Fairest” as the leads emphasise the harmonies, and harmonics, that the guitars are playing, even more so when during the acoustic interlude before the coda.

Shadows Fall’s Brian Fair lends his vocals to “Paradise Failed” and they blend in exceedingly well with Xavier’s, but a little deeper allowing for the lighter leads to wrap things up.

The instrumental “Nocturnalism” is a mellow refrain that sucks you in just before throwing you straight back into the thick of it with “To Seek and Follow the Call of Lions” where an opening scream spills into the fast guitar riffs which keep on rolling as they work through the verses before breaking into squawking leads.

The longest song on the album is “The Lantern” where the manic pace is finally allowed a reprieve as near acoustic guitars gently build themselves back up into a frenzy of riffs and drums and harsh vocals.

They end the album with a lively rendition of Misfits’ “Dig Up Her Bones”, which as expected sounds as good as any song does when played heavier and faster than the original.

Overall, well worth the listen, especially for any fans of the mid-90s melo-death that came out of Sweden.

(8/10 Marco Gaminara)

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https://centurymedia.bandcamp.com/album/dead-mother-moon-24-bit-hd-audio