The gates of the dark kingdom have swung open, and the haunting has commenced once again. CEMETERY MOON has returned with a new album, a culmination of intensive composing, rehearsing, and performing its singular style of black metal art. Apparition's vocals have coalesced into a ghostly voice of terror, while Langeloth joins to display his own call from the grave. Likewise, the two guitarists attack the sonic landscape like two dragons — one bearing its teeth in a ferocious growl, the other scorching the listener in waves of fire. Meanwhile, Astoroth's bass lines quake the earth below, reinforced by the thunderstorm of Usurper's merciless drumming. The album displays the band's ability to capture a variety of moods and motifs.

The album has ten songs, and "The Wretched City" is first. It's evidenced from the opening blast beat drums and wall of guitars that this is FWOBM inspired music. The production is also murky, and the vocals scream with rage. "House of Usher" has a similar blistering pace and sound as the previous song. There are also some somber elements afoot, but it's all about the aggression. Breaking up some of the thickness is a slower clean passage, and here is where you get some of the emotion from the album. "Temporal Bloodletting" is another song that the band unabashedly just plows through with blast beat drumming and vocal screams. There is a little variation from time to time, but again, their sound is mostly about raw aggression. "Cultus Mortem" begins with a slower, and more evil sound, but once it gets going, it blasts over and through any barriers.

"Lunar Grave" is a short burst of aggression in a two-and-a-half minute song. It comes out firing on all cylinders, and at times settles into a more somber sound. "Triumphant Spirit" is another energetic offering of thick guitars, darkness, and plenty of aggression. It is also tinged with a bit of harrowing elements. "Smoke Trails at Vespers" is shorter and perhaps more intense. The band steps on the gas pedal of contention and doesn't take their foot off for the entire ride. For me, it's like a ride on a bus that's on fire down into Hell. "The Black Keep" is the final song, and it's another straightforward song of deep aggression. Although the band's attention to the ferocity of Black Metal is noteworthy, many of the songs on the album blurred together too much. They have talent, and the cover art is excellent, but they need to work in more variation into the album, and perhaps take advantage of the wide genre boundaries these days.