Thirty years is a long time to spend brewing up a debut album, but for Sweden’s Moondark, it’s taken precisely that. Neither the result of sloth nor overwrought perfectionism, Moondark‘s cadre of musicians—composed of current members from Interment and October Tide—have put in plenty of work during this time, contributing to some of Sweden’s heaviest hitters like Katatonia, Centinex, Necrophobic and the tragically short-lived Trees of Eternity.¹ Not so hot on the heels then of their independently released Demo #1 in 1993, which Xtreem Music reissued as The Shadowpath in 2015, Moondark and label Pulverised Records are finally ready to serve up debut proper The Abysmal Womb to the masses. Will it shine brightly as a beacon at night, or would it be better for this lunar body to remain eclipsed?

Moondark trades the HM2 pedals and melodicism of their day jobs for a pummeling, straightforward death-doom style on The Abysmal Womb. Solo-less and stripped of technicality as it is, the simple harmonized leads layered over crushing power chords rend the ears and do most of The Abysmal Womb’s damage. Johan Jansson’s and Mattias Norrman’s deliberately restrained yet devastating guitar work conjures strong Bolt Thrower vibes (“Suffer the Dark,” “Infernal Genocide”), as well as whiffs of Bloodbath (“Palliative Dusk”) and sludgy sprinklings of early Crowbar (“Sterile Earth”). Combined with Allan Lundholm’s beefy bass lines and Kennet Englund’s crushing drums, Moondark leaves listeners battered and bruised, as if having survived a ruthless session of sledgehammer flagellation.

Don’t let its near holiday release fool you, there’s no joy within the cavernous confines of Moondark’s creation. The Abysmal Womb’s opening salvo is a one-two punch to the solar plexus and the album’s highlight. “Where Once Was Life,” with its almost Cathedral-esque doom bluesy swagger, will have your head bobbing and your face stanking while the dismal dirge of follow-up “Suffer the Dark” steamrolls you into submission under tank treads of skull-crushing riffs. You’ll be left pining for General Willets and his army of Warmasters to come to the rescue as The Abysmal Womb continues to march, one boot-stomping riff after another. Decimating the last bastion of hope then, and perfectly placed in Peter Bjärgö’s warm and hearty mix are the brutishly discernible growls and icy rasps of vocalist Alexander Högbom, whose Peter Tätgren-does-Ofermod delivery solidifies the relentless atmosphere Moondark is trying to achieve.

However, as The Abysmal Womb crawls past its midpoint, it becomes painfully clear that the horse has been annihilated, yet the beatings continue. Moondark’s firm commitment to plodding pace and nothing-but-bludgeoning riff patterns sees fatigue set in by the end of “Infernal Genocide,” rendering the remainder of The Abysmal Womb a nearly indistinguishable collection of mid-paced riffs as opposed to individually diverse songs. And while I wouldn’t categorize The Abysmal Womb as overtly bloated at just over forty-six minutes, it could benefit from some sloughing. The final track, “Immersed to Crypts,” is the prime example of trimmable fat; with its funeral-like pace and near eight-minute run time—two minutes of which are an ambient outro—spoiling what could have been a stronger outing had the album concluded with the title track.

Scouring the promo pit in December can be tricky, and if you asked me whether I’d enjoy an album made up entirely of mid-paced Bolt Thrower-core and “Eaten”-like Bloodbathery I would immediately tell you, “Hell yes!” But too much of a good thing can sometimes be too much. The Abysmal Womb is a good album, but it suffers under the weight of its commitment. With a dash of the speedy ferocity from Interment and a pinch of October Tide’s melodicism, Moondark might have a masterpiece in its future; the cachet of its members suggests as much. I just hope we don’t have to wait another thirty years to find out.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pulverised Records
Websites: moondark666.bandcamp.com | pulverised.bandcamp.com |
facebook.com/moondark666
Releases Worldwide: December 20th, 2024

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