Bal-Sagoth – A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria (1995)

April 23, 2023

I am admittedly very late to the party when it comes to Bal-Sagoth. I remember them from my Cradle-years as a teenager, where Bal-Sagoth’s albums were advertised inside flyers that came with the early Cradle records (they were on the same label for a while). I can draw other similarities here with CoF too: the style of keyboard playing in very similar in parts, as is the slightly-pitchshifted narration-style vocals. I know CoF came before Bal-Sagoth, but Principle adn Lemuria came in the same year, and this definitely came before Cradle’s Vempire where these kinds of effects are used to no end. Interesting how two bands on the same label in the same year would use the same vocal effects, especially when I’ve never heard those effects used anywhere else.

Anyway, A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria (what a title) is a stunning example of not only how to mix black metal and death metal elements together seamlessly, but to then lay a thick blanket of hammy and orchestral keyboard pieces over the top of it. It reminds me of seeing Sigh live (another label mate) back in 2011 when they piped the entire brass/keyboard parts through the PA, the whole thing lazily farting out over the live metal. That’s exactly how Bal-Sagoth DOESN’T sound, despite the cheaper sound of some of these keyboard patches.

The record is a bit flat in parts, but this is more to do with the production than the delivery. It isn’t bad but it sounds a bit drab in parts for a band that is so full of life and different ideas.