Moonloop
Deeply from the Earth

Interesting name, can it be some Porcupine Tree influences? Moonloop is after all a song by Porcupine Tree, Opeth and Gojira are also mentioned in the press text following this promo. It has an attractive cover artwork, one that makes you wish that this album is good even before hearing it. This Spanish band seem to have been thinking about that thing and many others and of course they’ve had some time to do so as it is the first album of the band that started their thing way back in 2001. There has been some demos and singles before this album, but what about the album then? is it a band well worth checking out? Judging by the press info and stuff it seems to be so but of course we should never judge a book by its cover but by what is inside that cover. And what about that?

Well, it is inspired by our planet, by nature and by ancient mythologies which are probably the reason for the albums dreamy atmosphere. The sound is dreamy, exciting, deep, powerful, it paints a canvas of a musical landscape that reminds of earlier mentioned band but with an own touch. I would say that the cover artwork pretty much illustrates how the album sounds. I would also point out that the production is quite excellent with a strong sound and atmosphere that dominates the whole picture. The vocals are both clear and growled, I think the clear vocals are really strong while the growls is quite boring and not that exciting. Did I mention quality production? that is what it is.

And the album has depth, not the kind of depth that makes it difficult to get to know but the kind that makes it last longer. And the album is long, almost one hour which really gives the need for this kind of depth and I think it is solid all the way through and it doesn’t get too long even though the final track could have been a bit shorter. I like this album, it is very, very good. All the songs are very strong, none really stands out as a strong hit song or as a weak song. It is a very solid album, hard to imagine that it is a debut.

I would have to point out though that there are some smaller weaknesses, like the growls for instance. I just think those growls aren’t up to the standard of the rest of the album and that is a shame, it made me take much longer to see the greatness in the album. Other than the growls, I think the last song could have been shorter as it feels too long but then I have nothing else to really complain about. It is a strong and well recommended album that I think can appeal to fans of almost any kind of metal music.

I have no favourite track, it feels as though the band has focused on the bigger picture coming to the album. I think that Moonloop and their Deeply From the Earth is something to look very much closer at, it is a strong debut and an album well worth picking up. And let us also hope that the next album does not take a decade to come out, but I guess this will suffice fairly well until then.

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