The blood-red moon slowly obscured the dying sun, descending over the deserted castle with tall towers piercing the clouds. Shrouded in mist and dense darkness, the silence around its fortress walls stirs tensely, as the fingers of a cursed musician hidden in the shadows begin to play ominous melodies of bloodshed, moonlight battles, and haunting melancholy echoing in the cold night…

With such  soundscape we enter „Castle Inside the Eclipse“ – the debut album of Bloedmaan, the solo project of Ronarg (also known from Ars Veneficium & Antzaat). In the space of around 29 minutes, the musician takes us through seven chapters woven of impenetrable darkness and melancholic atmospheres, filled with gothic raw beauty, vampiric elegance and old-school black metal.

„The Night of Blood“ – the first track on the album, erupts with furious vocals, frenzied drums and atmospheric cold riffs, relentlessly haunting  the ear like an evil demon thirsting for blood. A raw and energetic track that, in addition to the traditional black metal atmosphere, also includes old-school twisted guitar solos and clean vocals towards the end, which gives even more of that specific and deep  90’s vibe to the record.

After that we pass through the total aggressive attack in „Cursed Charms of Death“ and arrive at the third track from the album – „Haunted Melancholic Obsessions“. I could not give a more  appropriate title to the piece in question. In it, clean mesmerizing  vocals, reminiscent of Nordic cold (Katla., early Ulver &  Agalloch come to mind right away) , for example, collide with powerful emotionally charged black metal shrieks,as  the instrumental includes guitar compositions that throw you into the deep waters of the imagination and transport you to an ominous and alluring atmosphere – from cold classic riffs and fast tremolo, through atmospheric reverbed guitars to more distorted ones, the varying melodies give such a rich palette to the song…

The remaining two final tracks of the album continue the midnight dynamic atmosphere, each individual sound feeling like it emerged from a deep cursed crypt, reminiscent of ancient malediction and moonlit wandering around abandoned castle ruins.

„Castle Inside the Eclipse“ is a classic yet very fresh and captivating title that paints dark soundscapes with the ease of a Devil-possessed artist. Subtly passing like a light breeze, the album is filled with the best of black metal – cold traditional freezing riffs and fierce harsh vocals that immediately cut into your mind and bring the darkness down from above you. Adding at the same time a specific identity through original and memorable guitar solos, melancholic clean vocals and interestingly written songs that make you levitate in space and lead you to the place where  Bloedmaan wants you to be – under the majesty of the blood moon, fascinated by  the cursed sounds…

Score: 10/10

You can hear some of the tracks below:

Band: Bloedmaan
Album: „Castle Inside the Eclipse“
Release date: December 15th, 2023
Label: Immortal Frost Productions
Pre-order link: http://lnk.to/castleinsidetheeclipse