ALBUM REVIEW: Wish To Leave – Lunar Shadow

Germany’s LUNAR SHADOW are an interesting prospect and have been since the outset. Since their debut EP Triumphator, they’ve shown a clear artistic vision under their classic power/heavy metal assault with debut full-length Far From Light and the following The Smokeless Fires. Squealing solos and soaring vocals, always with a strong sense of melody and occasional flourishes of something more extreme, have long been their stock in trade.

Until now, that is, when LUNAR SHADOW opted to cease all live activities after the postponement of their appearance at Party San Open Air in 2020 to refocus and explore new creative avenues. The result of that is Wish To Leave, which still very much draws on their heavy metal DNA but its influence is felt far less keenly. Instead the band bring in new soundscapes from indie to post-punk while still retaining a sound noticeably them. 

Opening softly with a quiet peal of thunder and natural sounds before a folksy guitar enters, first track Serpents Die is already a world away from anything the band have done prior. That is until just shy of the two minute mark where we’re treated to cascading drum fills and a mournful lead that moves into a middling almost gallop. Here we’re on more familiar ground but the band doesn’t stay here forever. It’s a sprawling, near eight minute introduction to LUNAR SHADOW’s new sonic palette. 

Delomelanicon is considerably shorter though no less grandiose in its scope, its traditional heavy metal breaks sitting between duelling guitars and the soaring vocals. Follow up I Will Lose You is a melancholic affair, not quite a ballad but a much more gothic number, especially in the crooning melody of the chorus and is easily an album highlight, perhaps because of its almost total departure from their older sound and not in spite of. To Dusk and I Love You is in a similarly gothic vein but also brings in a more country/folk element in its stripped-back guitars and especially in its instrumental break from around the three to four minute mark. 

After two comparatively slower songs, And Silence Screamed picks up where Delomelanicon left off in its galloping pace and twin guitar harmonies. The band once more opt to have an extended instrumental intro, with vocals only entering around the 1:30 mark or so, something that is a recurring theme throughout the album seemingly as a way of setting the scene. Finally, closer The Darkness Between The Stars comes to bring things to an end. At a hair under ten minutes, it’s another sprawler and encompasses gothic, doomy segments including in its opening movement through to the more rock-oriented NWOBHM sound the band have pushed into with Wish To Leave.

It’s a bold choice to bookend the record with the two longest cuts in Serpents Die and The Darkness Between The Stars that between them total nearly half the album, though with just six songs and a 36 minute runtime it’s perhaps understandable to put as much distance between them as possible. It also makes the opening and closing moments a much more immersive feel rather than opening or ending abruptly. 

Perhaps the title, Wish To Leave indicates their desire to change how they approach music and a desire to branch out from the old into pastures new. That’s certainly borne out from their decision to stop performing live, though Wish To Leave isn’t the complete departure from their earlier sound LUNAR SHADOW mark it out to be, though there is a significant broadening of their sound. Drawing on proggier elements as well as delving into folk and post-rock, it’s a bold step both forwards and away, and it will arguably succeed in its aim of drawing more people into the band’s world.

Rating: 7/10

Wish To Leave is set for release March 19th via Cruz Del Sur Music. 

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