LUNAR CHALICE – transcendentia: the shadow pilgrimage LP black

lim. black vinyl to 400 copies

Formed in 2019, LUNAR CHALICE comprise prolific veterans of the German metal underground. Under the alluring moniker LUNAR CHALICE, the band quickly set upon a slew of releases, first with the Walpurgis Dance demo in 2019 and the Night Poetry EP right after, exhibiting a subtly refreshing approach to classics-minded black metal. The next year came the even-stronger Medieval Cults of Heresy EP, thus setting the stage for the band’s debut full-length.

Taking a relatively longer time given their feverish creativity, LUNAR CHALICE now deliver the grand statement of their so-far-undiscovered powers, Transcendentia: The Shadow Pilgrimage. With one steel-toed boot planted under a funeral moon and the other in a world without end, LUNAR CHALICE give a masterclass in stripped-down
songwriting rich in nuance and dynamics. Their black metal is like a boulder gathering momentum down a mountain and rumbling across valleys; the movement is inexorable, and portends doom, and simply cannot be stopped. LUNAR CHALICE, in effect, extend a spectrum of black metal sonics that’s feral and unhinged on one hand and mercilessly martial on the other; that their almost-overwhelmingly physical onslaught is deliberately (and eerily) clipped betrays both a depth of vision and a rare grace in a landscape usually laden with filth. Which isn’t to say that Transcendentia doesn’t sound “dirty” (it does), but rather that that’s not the overarching thematic – that there’s a sense of ceremony or even regality at play here. Credit due to the absolutely madman vocals of bassist E.I.-M., who more often than not channels a clean tenor that’s more disturbing than most “black metal” vocals.

Past, present, and future: LUNAR CHALICE’s vision encompasses all on Transcendentia: The Shadow Pilgrimage.

Tracks:

1. The Accusation
2. Calix Cum Velum
3. Immortuae
4. Descending Shadows
5. The Saturn Rite
6. The Astral Stargate
7. Flagellationis Diaboli
8. Nocturnalia

Genres: Black Metal