Country: Italy
Genre: Black metal
Full length: As Time Retreats
Format: CD, digital
Label: Immortal Frost Productions
Release date: September 26, 2025
The longest-active black metal band from Italy returns again with a profound dive into the distinctive sound they started years ago, which has persistently showcased potential.
With the release of their 2001 full-length album “Gathering the Dark”, they began honing the classic black metal formula of razor-sharp guitars, robust bass, and relentless blast beats. Frostmoon Eclipse was one of the first to draw inspiration from outside extreme metal, incorporating deeply resonant influences and shaping their songwriting with much-needed depth.
An additional effort to avoid oversaturation was by emphasizing a humanistic touch more pronounced than most bands of that time. Attentively highlighting that human element enhanced their growth even more than genre expansion, as they sought to evolve with authenticity. On the albums following their debut, it became evident that no musical style was too disparate, from ambient and gothic metal to progressive rock, psychedelia, folk, and classical; whatever contributed to serving the emotional impact they desired was added.
For their latest album, it’s liberally infused with elements of classic rock and classic metal, with shades of post-black and death-doom metal. According to what works, many more nuances are arranged in a way that’s raw, haunting, and soaring, both melodic and dissonant, with most of it sounding written in minor keys. Downtuned tremolo picking, dissonance, and blast beats are the foundation for the nuanced aspects brought to this album.
At times, there are dual guitars and underlying acoustic guitars creating gloomy, depressive harmonies with folk metal vibes sounding similar to Enslaved and Ophthalamia. Other times, there are classic rock elements that enhance depressive moods reminiscent of Katatonia and Paradise Lost. These moods have even more emotional depth than most DSBM bands, merging bittersweet introspection with a creative flair that can be compared to Queen, David Bowie, Rush, Uriah Heep, and old Fleetwood Mac.
The vocals display the most diversity, alternating from high-pitched rasping to a more goth metal style; complementing this are occasional choral vocals and spoken word parts. The whole, created by the sum of its parts, feels like mourning for a time long dead and vanished, deeply felt inside, as if the songs are vehicles to project that sense of emptiness into you, especially “Out in the Grey Light,” “Universe Black Vacuum,” and “No Place Left to Leave.”
As a representation of the band’s view of the world in general, “As Time Retreats” is poignant, incisive, personal, and extremely fitting, considering how much the world is changing and how bands like Frostmoon Eclipse have more opportunities to express existential journeys like this album. –Dave Wolff
Lineup:
Lorenzo Sassi: Vocals, lyrics
Claudio Alcara: Guitars, songwriting
Davide Gorrini: Bass
Gionata Potenti: Drums
Track list:
1. Transient
2. Truth of the World
3. Out in the Grey Light
4. Universe Black Vacuum
5. Spectral
6. No Place Left to Leave
7. Char These Bones to Coal
8. Eschaton
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