This release is a definition of a cult release on the essential underground label. Autopsy Kitchen has already resurrected the releases by Silencer and Marblebog. Next on the docket is the occult secretive Mexican project Funereal Moon. Specifically, this release contains four new tracks titled Satan’s Beauty Obscenity and five more cuts from the 1996 EP aptly titled Grim … Evil …

To fully appreciate the ritualistic dissonances and incantations presented on this opus one has to be an initiate of the Satanic philosophy. As I do not espouse this form of spiritual expression, my views are strictly that of an outsider. One of the most inalienable qualities of Satan’s Beauty Obscenity is its diversity of manifestation. The Last Prophecy is cavernous decrepit horror, Poison in My Heart is going to try to make a believer out of you, Luna Funebre has moments attributable to mid-Eastern dungeon. The earlier works also demonstrate that evil can have many faces. Witchery is a quiet, but powerful, electronic shimmering tremor, Forbidden Rites and Obscure Dominion are full of ritualistic blastbeat, while the proceedings close with I Came from Darkness to Conquer, which can be broken down in two parts, first the shamanistic tribal primal dance, then ambient keyboards showing the light at the end of the tunnel leading nowhere.

The voice of Funereal Moon’s main engine, one Impure Ehiyeh, is mostly pushed down in the mix, mostly a dry cackle, but often another inseparable instrument in this evil fabric. The Lust sees a female touch from Darvula, full of moaning and demonic laughter, signifying that every manifestation of the dark being needs to have its own Lilith.

I absolutely appreciate the fact that Funereal Moon has to be lo-fi to be believable, but I wish the guitars were brought further in the forefront. These tortures and twists (Black Sphere), not even riffs per se, would have been tons more powerful if they were louder. Otherwise the stinging bees lack punch. Also, once locked into a beat, don’t expect Funereal Moon to change for a second.

As much as I often have trouble getting into these occult/ambient/black noise projects (P.H.O.B.O.S., Stallagh), I could at least see where Funereal Moon is going with Satan’s Beauty Obscenity, and that alone gave them credit in my non-believing uninitiated head. If your soul bleeds more darkness than mine, immediately add 20 points to the score.