It could be debated in many different by passionate individuals who may not like particular releases from names new and established, but it is in my opinion that 2023 has been one of the most bombastic years for a hot minute when it comes to up-and-coming black metal bands not just delivering new material but insanely good material. Already with the release of Blackbraid’s second effort, the arrival of Uada’s fourth effort, Esoctrilihum delivering a true masterclass in cosmic insanity, Sarcoptes’s latest album, and so much more have graced our presence with their magnitude to really keep us on our toes and more than sated when it comes to high-quality black metal. Moonlight Sorcery came around a few months ago with a 2-track EP to cast their names into the fray for the third time in barely more than a year, but that was a paltry appetizer for what would come next. With their first proper full-length album, Moonlight Sorcery truly tightens its already iron-clad grip upon the current state of black metal to show their dominance of the night in a nothing short of mind-boggling fashion.

If you know anything about the current state of the sound, the Moonlight Sorcery absolutely should have come upon your radar multiple times by now. Their vicious sense of melody mixed with shredding guitars that bring real speed and magic to the mix that you just don’t get in black metal often enough, Moonlight Sorcery was already a sensation to be known last year with its first effort, “Piercing Through the Frozen Eternity”. Naturally, it made sense for many of us, myself included, to think that it would be sometime before this Finnish trio would return to us again but it wasn’t even ten months later that we saw “Nightwind: The Conqueror from the Stars” descend upon our feeble minds. Clearly, Moonlight Sorcery was not playing around. Both were EPs, however, and it made the mind wonder what could be done when a proper forty-plus-minute performance takes shape after such a glorious foundation had been laid. The arrival of “Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle” answers any and all of such questions with the reality arguably sweeter than many of us could have fathomed.

Whatever it was that drew people to Moonlight Sorcery in the first place feels like it was all laser-focused in the making of these nine tracks. Quickly, “Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle” makes itself known for a fantastically eclectic mix that holds nothing back with the guitar work just as spectacular as its predecessors before with the melody never once failing to deliver maximum satisfaction while the atmosphere that pierces every given moment of the record ensures that we’re given a sound that isn’t just an ego-bloating array of solos, but, rather, a certifiable journey through a night of dark fantasy that holds nothing back. Moonlight Sorcery shows us all of their cards as we’re given visages of a continuous story throughout this album with each track picking up where the last left off so that “Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle” offers a terrific story while never failing to deliver crazy displays of black metal know-how on such a scale to make it nigh on undeniable.

Everything that Moonlight Sorcery has thrown down before this has been building up to this point as we see every given facet of the band’s sound as it has evolved thus far coming into one cohesive, powerful form that constantly performs at the highest possible level to not just make this the most engaging and pleasing work that Moonlight Sorcery has dished out yet, but one of the most compelling and thrilling pieces of black metal that 2023 has seen by a long shot.

Truly, the night comes alive at the very arrival of Moonlight Sorcery. Their path has been carved out for greatness since day one, and this is the icing on the cake that many of us knew would come should we only patiently wait for its arrival. Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long at all for the reality to come into being, and it is ever so sweet to bathe in for hours on end!

“Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle” releases on September 29th via Avantgarde Music!

PRE-ORDER “Horned Lord of the Thorned Castle” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Moonlight Sorcery on Facebook here.