Satan’s Beauty of Obscenity consists of nine tracks of occult, ritualistic black metal. The Mexican two-piece group of Impure Ehiyeh and Darvula handle most malefic manipulations, although Demogorgon pounds away his earthly frustrations on the drums, and Lucifera provides sexual moans and lust-filled narrations on “The Lust.” The first four tracks of the said album were recorded in 2007, and comprise the recording of the said album name. The latter half of Satan’s Beauty of Obscenity was taken from the Grim…Evil… EP, which the group recorded in 1996 and limited to five hundred, 12” copies.

Like an antiquated record, all nine tracks of Impure’s unclean creation move behind a thick shroud of low-fi production. These production values instill a distant, haunting atmosphere. In most cases, Funereal Moon utilizes all instruments to uphold this atmosphere. The guitar strings ring hollow and loosely, and whine with eerie dissonance or provide a low drone in the background. The deliberate drone and echo of the guitar characterize the first half of the album, with the exception of the hypnotic, tribal pound of the drums that lead “Black Sphere.” These bizarre guitar tones fit well with the percussion of “Luna Funebre,” which conjures images of the dripping water in a musty, webby dungeon. Impure’s vocals animate these macabre scenarios with ghoulish groans.

The Grim…Evil... portion, surprisingly, offers an even murkier production than the first portion of the album. Although atmospheric in every way, this part of the album, especially “Obscure Dominion,” is more akin to early nineties black metal such as Emperor when Ihsahn still wore his hair long and the group donned black robes. The album does, though, end on a ritualistic note with “The Lust” and “I Came From Darkness to Conquer.” Orgiastic moans and female narrations appropriately fill “The Lust,” which takes its words and (probably) its music from Church of Satan founder, Anton La Vey. Savage drums, wind instruments, and monstrous growls give the latter track a voodoo vibe.

Many black metal albums of a ritualistic nature describe their contents as some of the darkest ambience ever put on wax, but often do not deliver. If you have ever been mislead in to believing these falsifications and came away disappointed, look no further than Satan’s Beauty of Obscenity.

Exactly like black metal’s early deviants, Funereal Moon’s music is not just an entertainment front. Lucifera died in 1999 by her own hand, and according to Darvula on the group’s Myspace page, Impure Ehiyeh has died. With Samhain approaching, Satan’s Beauty of Obscenity may provide the necessary black magic to reanimate the blackened marrow in their brittle bones

*Note: Impure is not dead, but in a coma, as validated by members of Funereal Moon

www.myspace.com/funerealmoon