Lunar Tombfields - An Arrow to the Sun (2023)

Last year's The Eternal Harvest was a tasteful, atmospheric black metal debut out of France, and An Arrow to the Sun looks to continue that style as it shifts between its more measured, contemplative passages and then the surges into the more conventional blast patterns. The band also has a slightly interesting sense for melody, sure the tremolo picking styles are the same that you are used to in the genre, and a lot of the chords do end up in the direction that you predict, but once in awhile they'll spit out a guitar line with a more distinct progression. Lunar Tombfields does stick to its moniker in delivering very sorrowful material that is probably best experienced under some shade of moonlight, but I think this is the very definition of a 'mood record', because when I'm not quite in the headspace to absorb it, I did find myself occasionally phasing out in the longer tracks, which is all of them after the opener.

I think it's that structurally there are not a lot of surprises to be had...the duo performs all the instruments well, the vocals bear the burden of the dour and desperate emotions, and I actually love some of the tones on the guitars when they splay out the slower, spacious chords. The acoustics or cleaner distorted guitars are wonderful, and the rhythm section is tight-knit as needed, the band also balances off the coldness and warmth through some of the chord choices and that offers and air of romance to the music redolent of the debut. But often I found myself combing through the material for just one little surprise lick or tempo break, and they pop up a little too rarely in such swollen songs. I feel that some of them lose their luster after about 5-6 minutes, or they would have that much to hold my attention combined within them.

That said, this is still a decent follow-up to The Eternal Harvest, and from a production standpoint it sounds quite good, especially the glint of the guitars and the drumming. If you're just out to behold the sheer atmosphere of it, you could find far worse than An Arrow to the Sun to explore, but I just felt that there were only a limited number of payoff riffs nestled among the more predictable pieces. The closer "Le Chant Des Tombes" is probably the most balanced of the 8-9 minute tracks for me, but even that one had a moment or so of unneeded excess. Interestingly, the tracks are shorter than the debut but I still found myself more immersed in that one. Regardless, they've still got the wonderful artwork and a style that merits the patient, so if you enjoyed the last album this one isn't far off at all.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

https://lunartombfields.bandcamp.com/