13th Moon, the third album from Moncton-based black metal trio Funeral Fog, was released Nov. 25 via Ancient Temple Recordings.
Matt Carter
Before we get into this I should point out, I am the last person who should be writing a review of a black metal album. I’m sure that will become apparent very soon. That said, I try to never shy away from the opportunity to talk about new music from New Brunswick regardless of genre, language, region, or anything else that may contribute to the classification and possible isolation of an artist or their work. In the end, it is all music, and all music has a purpose and meaning to someone.
13th Moon is the new album from the Moncton-based black metal outfit, Funeral Fog. It’s the band’s third album and comes after a 15 year break that followed the release of the band’s 2017 sophomore album, Channelling Ancient Shadows. Truth be told, it is kind of a miracle that this album ever came to fruition. After eleven years apart, the group’s three original members – Krall (guitars & bass), Nokturnis (vocals) and Shithammer (drums) – decided to get back together. They started (shit)hammering out tunes sometime in 2018 before health issues and a global pandemic threw an inverted cross into their plans. I guess they figured, “It’s been over a decade, what’s another a few years?,” because they kept at it. They kept working and writing and eventually finished a brand new album’s worth of material.
Recorded between studios in Moncton and Saint- Antoine, NB, 13th Moon is easily one the most evil sounding, demon conjuring albums released by a New Brunswick based band in recent memory. It is Dark with a capital D, and has all the hallmarks of a good old fashion church burning soundtrack. Rapid fire drums that hold tempo like an idling two-stroke engine, guitar riffs that strike and hold chords like a massive, distorted pipe organ, and of course a vocalist whose lyrical delivery is not too far removed from that of the CryptKeeper himself – thoroughly maniacal and over the top in the best of ways. While Krall, Nokturnis, and Shithammer easily prove they are capable of casting dark spells on their own across the album’s ten songs, the addition of guest guitarist Demius, who appears on three of the ten tracks, helps to expand the trio’s palette and lifts 13th Moon a little higher. New Brunswick black metal has risen from the grave.
13th Moon was released November 25 on Ancient Temple Recordings.
