Suldusk
Lunar Falls – Self Released
Ethereal, haunting, atmospheric. House! Pardon? Oh, right. Sorry. It’s not some form of word bingo. No, these are all adjectives that are most likely gonna be used to describe ‘Lunar Falls’. Entirely correctly, of course. Best add Tense to that impressive list. Nope, not got caps lock key stuck on. Tense needs that capital T. Because the tension takes hold of your entire body. How powerful is that? Brainchild of Melbourne’s massively gifted Emily Highfield, brought to life by the help of a chamber metal ensemble, ‘Lunar Falls’ has to be heard to be believed. Doom/post-rock/neo-folk, the album is inspired by nature and inhibited by nothing. ‘Solus Ipse’ lures us into another world and leads into some fearsome vocals. Whispering and angelic chanting explode into a vox from the depths of Emily’s soul. Delicate guitars and vocals on ‘Aphasia’ create an almost unbearable build-up, because you know Emily is gonna drop something apocalyptically heavy. ‘Three Rivers’ and ‘Catacombs’ are gentle, gorgeous and glorious. ‘Lunar Falls’ is dense and lush, and it sounds like paradise. Just wow.
Review by Jo Wright