I somehow got attracted to RED MOON ARCHITECT by its name which I find really cool. Thankfully it was not the only thing that got my attention as the mixture of Death / Doom Metal that they play is really appealing to my taste. So "Concealed Silence" is the first album of the Finnish RED MOON ARCHITECT which started as Saku Moilanen's one man project but does feature a full band for the album recordings.

"Concealed Silence" is a five track record that spans for approximately 30 minutes long. The cover of the record shows a child screaming in a dark blue purple background and I guess that one could be better. Concerning the tracks, "Abscond" starts the sequence of doom with heavy guitars and growling vocals and in the middle of it clean vocals come in. The starting riff evolves during the song and some synths appear here and there, while in the end speeds go up and there is also some piano parts. "Funeral" starts with an acoustic intro followed by growls and heavy Doomish riffs. Eventually it ends up again into an acoustic part that dissolves into strings. "Death Rank" gets things a bit more brutal with faster speeds and double bass drums. On "Black Butterflies" there is a noise about three minutes long which I guess should be made by those darkened moths before the song kicks in. Doom Metal riffs and a lot of melody in the leads combined with growls and keys build up this song which ends with clean vocals. Final song "Realm", has some acoustic guitars before the Doom Metal riffs come in but surprisingly come in female vocals and a song ends in a bitter yet beautiful way.

RED MOON ARCHITECT with its melodic Doom Metal of mellow leads and Death riffology, the excellent clean and dark vocals and the use of synthesizers creates a canvas of varying shades of melancholy and wrath. The music compositions are mature and show that Mr. Moilanen has a clear vision on what he wants to achieve. Juuso Turkki's guitar performance is of professional standards with solid heavy parts and mellow lead guitar parts. Both the vocalists have done a great job here. Frans Alto delivers terrific growls and amazing clean vocals while Anni Viljanen gives a stunning performance at the end of this record. The production of the record is in high standards but the rhythm section could be a bit more distinguishable.

I found the record a real pleasure to listen to and I liked the dark atmosphere that this Doom Metal band is delivering. Somehow it also reminded me of the old awesome OPETH because mainly of the vocals (especially the growls) and secondly because of the music style. I believe that this is a solid release and a great first step for RED MOON ARCHITECT. I don't know though if I can call it a record because of its short duration but if they are going for a full length release they should keep those members and get some extra to perform live. But in all terms I absolutely recommend this to the fans of the genre out there and I will be eagerly awaiting their next release.