Finsmoonth - Affliction Review
Indonesia | Melodic Black/Post-Black Metal |
Indonesia | Melodic Black/Post-Black Metal |
Finsmoonth - Affliction, Premiered May 6th 2022
Home to The Ring of Fire, where the earth trembles with quakes and the most active volcanoes spew out hell-fire, it’s no wonder why the Black Metal scene in this South-East Asian countries has been in recent years solidifying itself with fans. Finsmoonth is yet another band to add to that collection. This Indonesian Black Metal/Post-Black band has recently unleashed Affliction, and what a fucking album it is!
This album is a cosmic gumbo of melodic elements and traditional black metal, infused with post-black riffs. It is fit for the whole family! If you’re sacrificing your cat to Mammon, sad about your SAT scores, ready to fuck the night, or just contemplating your failed stock investments, this album has a track that will fit practically every mood.
Starting with a sombre instrumental intro, the title track, Affliction, sets the mood for the rest of the album, somewhat reminiscent of Der Weg einer Freiheit - Noktvrn. Haunting and atmospheric with light tremolo picking explode into a fury of traditional black metal fuckery with track two, Sightless Bound. The tempo changes that dip into heavier riffs accompanied by the raspy vocals make you feel like it’s the late 90s again, and you’re doing a shitty music video in the forest! However, an underlying accompaniment of melodic aspects fuses the song into something fuller and more polished. The breakdown in Sightless Bound is quite brilliant as well as the overdriven guitar blends with the rhythm to create an epic build-up. In this track, you see the Post-Black elements as the traditional vocals are accompanied by softer operatic chants that echo throughout.
Triumph of the Moon starts as a lycanthrope ripping out your innards. Although it flirts with some unusual chord progression, its traditional brutality may or may not suit you. Halfway through, it breaks down, however, and the double bass, tremolo picking and vocals make way for a rather tasty riff with an exciting change-up, and it all just works brilliantly. Suddenly, you find yourself in an atmospheric landscape; the savagery is gone; all that’s left is instrumental picking and a melody that almost edges you into some Melodic Doom/DSBM vibe. Before you know it, you’re halfway up a rollercoaster of epic guitar shredding and double bass drums throwing you off a precipice of comfort back into the land of the black hearts!
Void in Lunar Delusion follows the structure of Triumph of the Moon quite a bit. It departs in its style with some epic echoing shredding halfway through before being joined by the drums to create a tempo change-up that emulates the band’s Post-Black vibes. So much so that it vaguely plays on a bit of a Post-Rock rhythm.
Divination I is a bit of a change-up from the other tracks as it opens with the reciting of a poem and sombre picking. It then rips into brutal vocals, thundering drumming, and Post-Rock rhythm guitar. Divination II starts in the complete opposite manner for all the purity of Divination I. Treading on the epically blackened second wave riffs. The sound is one of total darkness and evil! Tasty if you’re in a Dissection mood, as it seems to emulate a lot of their sound in this track. The vocals also take a diversion in this track with more wounded, verging on the desperate, despairing sound, really pushing the intensity of the song to a different level.
The Soulless Grave is the final track, and it summarises the album and band quite fittingly. It merges the Black, Melodic and Post-Black into a unique sound that, while preserving the elemental nature of the traditional, plays around with some heavier Post-Rock elements and breakdowns/riffs. The latter half of the track ends with an acoustic guitar picking away during a rainstorm. This album is a highly dynamic one and shows off the skill of the members throughout the variation in sound. It highlights why South East Asia is emerging as a force to be reckoned with.
While the band clearly highlights its influences from the second wave, it sets itself apart with an amalgamation of other elements like the post-rock, post-black, and melodic aspects. This is a great album to kick off a career. There is nothing more to say, except it is, all-in-all a great album, fit for a family vacation or if it’s your last days lost in a desolate landscape contemplating your illusion of self-importance!
Band Overview
Finsmoonth is an Indonesian band from Jakarta. It was formed in 2020 by vocalist Tino Guruh Putra and drummer Micco Rullyanto, who now perform alongside guitarist Zulk Adhe, guitarist Irwin D Ryanto and bassist Maulana Fachrul. The band's unique musical style, characterised by harmonic atmospheres and spiritual soul intensity, is rooted in Black Metal, and post-rock. The lyrics are written in English and are largely concerned with subjects like poetry, despair, romance, life and other psychological considerations on an introspective, personal level. We have no interest in the Satanist themes traditionally associated with the genre.
‘Affliction’ is co-produced by Januaryo Hardy and Finsmoonth
Music by Finsmoonth
Lyrics by Tino Guruh Putra
Chants on ‘Sightless Bound’ and ‘Divination I’ by Januaryo Hardy
Poet on ‘Divination I’ read by Isa Bellum
Drums and vocals recorded in November to December 2021 by Jafar Aljufri at Apache Music Studio, Indonesia
Guitars, bass and chants recorded November 2021 at Insidious Soundlab, Indonesia
Logo by Rotting Head
Cover artwork by Yowdi Santiar
Photography by Tantra Arjunanto D.
Written by: Chort the Crop Investor
“Hi, I’m Chort I infest crops and listen to Black Metal. I’ve currently invested most of my life savings into tracking down the REAL Nattramn and telling him how much I love his voice.”
