ALUNA (Crystal Voyage) MCD-R
Hailing from England, ALUNA is a very new band, which was formed in 2006. This is their latest three-song demo, but 'Higher State' will also appear on the 'Sound of The Catacombs' compilation, while 'Song of The Sun' will be featured on a split-7" , together with the Japanese band Queen Elephantine. Both will be released through Catacomb Records, if anyone is interested in further informations. Only the third tune 'Not the Only One' is an unreleased bonus track on this demo.
Due to the song titles, the psychedelic cover-artwork and the band-name it's obvious, that ALUNA don't play brutal Sludge or Black Metal, and when I noticed , that they have a female vocalist, suddenly I had to remember Mourn, who released a very good album on Rise Above Records in the 1990's. But ALUNA have a slight doomier sound, although they have lots of Sabbathian grooves and riffs. Soph's lovely vocals are making the sound much softer, and so all three songs are spreading a very relaxed vibe. 'Crystal Voyage' is a nice start from a talented band, but I feel that they still have have some things to improve. Better riffs would help a lot as well as more interesting arrangements, as they did it in 'Song of The Sun', my favourite one of this demo. But we'll see what he future brings...
(KK)