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themoaning bloodfromstone
Artist: The Moaning
Title: Blood From Stone (Re-issue)
Genre: Death Metal
Release Date: 25th January 2013
Label: Century Media Records


Album Review

2013 seems to be a good year for re-releasing bands from the 1990s. THE MOANING were formed in Sweden back in 1990, their only full-length record ‘Blood From Stone’ was put out in 1997 and as of now, the band has split up. Yet, the Re-Issue provides fans of Old School Death Metal a good opportunity to lay hands on solid material that often can only be found on Ebay.

The opener and title-track ‘Blood From Stone’ is a very straight-forward mixture of Death and Black Metal, with fast riffs, typical Swedish melodies and harsh vocals with comprehensible lyrics. In addition, the drumming underlines the demanding rhythm which includes tempo changes but also gives way to a certain type of groove. Interestingly enough, the demo version of this track is included towards the end of this disk as well. The original version is rawer, the vocals are hoarse and the overall sound is more dirty and unbalanced. Yet, it is probably a matter of taste which version is to be preferred and the possibility of being able to compare and recognize the sound changes is definitely fascinating. Also, it is essential to include the early years of the band as well because they have been genre and style defining in general.

The second regular track of the album, ‘Stillborn’ starts off calmer and ends relatively abruptly, whereas ‘Of Darkness I Breed’ is very fast and a traditional Death Metal song, which slows down at the end and includes a harmonic guitar solo. ‘Dying Internal Embers’ somehow resembles a traditional Heavy Metal song in the beginning, but incorporates THE MOANING’s trademarks and the cold Scandinavian atmosphere into a mid/up-tempo song. Especially the disharmonic and yet melodic riffs during the second half of the song are remarkable.  ‘A Dark Decade’s Rising’ continues in that manner, and also includes a slower interlude which creates suspense before shredding riffs set in again. ‘Dreams In Black’ has a rather catchy chorus and also hints at the Swedish Melodic Death Metal movement. The following ‘Mirror Of The Soul’ even increases the melodic impact, although distinctly harsh parts can be heard as well.

The last tracks on the album are three demos from 1994, which put forward an impetuous and more aggressive style of THE MOANING. Yet, they contain interesting song structures, especially ‘A Battle To Win’ and are more than worth a listen. In general, “Blood From Stone” is an interesting re-issue and introduces a less-known but talented band from the mid-90s. Highly recommended for any fan of Swedish (Melodic) Death Metal.


Tracklist

01. Blood From Stone
02. Stillborn
03. Of Darkness I Breed
04. Dying Internal Embers
05. A Dark Decade’s Rising
06. Dreams In Black
07. Mirror Of The Soul
08. Dark Reflections
09. Blood From Stone (Demo 1995)
10. A Battle To Win (Demo 1994)
11. Blackened By Death (Demo 1994)
12. Twilight Of Eternal Winter (Demo 1994)


Line-up

Pierre Törnkvist – vocals
Patrik Törnkvist – guitars
Mikael Grankvist – guitars
Niklas Svensson – bass
Andreas Nilzon – drums


Website

http://www.centurymedia.com/artist.aspx?IdArtist=624


Cover Picture

themoaning bloodfromstone


Rating

Music: 9
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 9 / 10





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