Moon Coven – Sun King

I have been critical of bands that indulge in pure Sabbath worship without also bringing some of their own personality to the alter (of sacrifice \m/). It would be easy to follow the blueprint of the classic Sabbath apostles such as Saint Vitus, Trouble, Candlemass, and Pentagram. However, they do this stuff so well if a band only uses this recipe, they will never progress beyond the bottom of the bill on some out of the way venue for infinity.

 

Thankfully there is a smattering of younger musicians while fishing from the dark Sabbathian pool that are also embracing more traditional metal motifs. The combination of this heaviness with very melodic vocals is refreshing and makes for much more vital music. Early Moods (U.S.A.) and Green Lung (United Kingdom) seem to be leading this charge. Sweden’s Moon Coven can also be added to this list.

 

Three albums deep into their career, they have slowly been honing their songwriting and with “Sun God” they have served up nine precise, economic, riff filled songs worthy of the attention of even casual listeners of hard guitar music. Starting with “Wicked words, in Gold they wrote” they lay out the vibe of the album. No snail like tempos here. This set of songs are designed to get you moving, stamping your foot, shaking your head, or just smiling in appreciation. (Choose your own poison). The guitar tone is not the usual fuzz drenched attack but more of a clean melodic reverb (there’s that M word again!). Seeing Stone and the tile track Sun King deliver more of the same. The breakdowns nod towards the ever-growing influence of Lizzy among the doom faithful with twin guitar passages. (The influence has grown to a stature Philo and the boys never achieved in their lifetime).

 

David Leban’s vocals soar above the mix but with enough gravitas to equally anchor and deliver the songs to their destination. His fellow band members Justin Boyesen, Axel Ganhammarand Fredrik Dahlqvist play with an assured confidence that gives Leban ample room to do this. The bass chugs without descending into overuse of distortion and the drums are right in the pocket while retaining tons of drive.  

Below the Black Grow and Guilded Apple are dripping in melody and hooks and jump right out of the speaker and embed themselves in your ears. The album continues in a similar vein, pulling the listener in by keeping the songs, short, melodic, and enough heart to keep the songs exciting.

 

By taking a less traveled trail and avoiding brute force riffing and distortion that beats you into submission.  Instead, they use reverb, melody, tight arrangements, Twin leads, economic running time, and most of all these fantastic vocals. This finds Moon Coven finding an identity and sound of their own, it matters little if this was by design or accident. It does the job with a large dollop of class and enough hooks to land a great white shark.

 

This album is a burnt offering to the doom hounds, an tempting invitation to the uninitiated masses and a more than worthy offering to the Sun King.

 

-Bobo Coen