Saw it used for only several bucks, so I figured that even if it sucks I am not gonna lose much. Well, I won't say that it just plain sucks, but it's not really worth it either.

Black metal from Italy in a digipack with lyrics in English and Latin. The sound and production are pretty good; nothing raw or grim but more in a warmer, but still dark, Mediterranean vein, like Opera IX or something. The music is competently done as far as the structure and style go. There we have various tempo changes, exceptional vocal performance, some half-decent keyboards, and even occasional death metal overtones in the riffing department. The problem is that even though the band are very good musicians, they are rather mediocre songwriters. The music has its moments, but ultimately there isn't much you can really grab-on to and go "Yeah! That's the shit! I want to hear it again." Plus, those irritating keyboard interludes (six of them) are all over the place.

Basically, if you need to fulfill your daily hunger for black metal, you could do much worse than this. If, however, you are looking for something that will be worth while in the long run, search somewhere else because "Sursum Luna" is just another black metal album.

© 2000 boris