(Atmospheric Black/Ambient) Astral Luminous - Lunaric Tide - 2009, FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After a demo nearly 2 years ago, Astral Luminous is back with his first official full-length release. While I did enjoy the demo, I felt it was pretty flawed with repetition and a lack of completion. After learning about the release of "Lunaric Tide" which is coming up very soon, I felt as though I'd see how Scott Johnson's composition skills have progressed since 2007, and after listening to samplers of the album, I noticed a more mature album oriented sound, as opposed to riff upon riff like the previous release and was quite pleased. Being friends with Skog, the owner of Hypnotic Dirge Records, I received an early copy of the release in order to write this review, so I figured, "why not?"
I was nervous though, that the repetition would still be an issue, noticing that the album was nearly 41 mins in length with just 4 tracks. However, I stayed open-minded enough to listen to the whole thing through on three different occasions, without any distractions. This was one of the best decisions I have made in a long time as far as music is concerned, because I found nothing but sheer bliss throughout.
Unlike "Demo 2007" I cannot draw a stand-out track on "Lunaric Tide" because as mentioned, this album's sound is more mature and focused on creating the album as a whole, than to have extra special moments. Although I will say I do favor the more mellow parts of the songs and feel that this is the icing on the cake of Scott's style. I will say that this is a very successful attempt at creating transcendental black metal and really does define a signature style for Astral Luminous. While the parts of the songs are lengthy and extended, I never found myself once getting bored or anxious for transitions, and even the most extended rhythms and melodies on the album are backed up by dynamic ambience, that is perfectly fitting.
I'm not really an expert on astral projection, but I have an idea of what it's about and this release paints a picture for the listener and successfully portrays this theme, at least it did for my listening experience given my knowledge of the topic.
I still see a little work being needed for one or two of the transitions of the album, but that is hardly noticeable. The vocals are also very well done, although a bit static in style. However, due to the minimal lyrics on the record, it doesn't really factor into the quality of the songs. Production is low budget, but everything is very decipherable for black metal, and there is a very light feedback, which in my opinion only betters the listening experience.
To conclude, I definitely recommend this album to any fan of the ambient and/or black metal genres, or to any individual who wants a CD that they will not only enjoy, but one that will lift their mind. I even think this particular release could almost be considered progressive black metal, due to the nontraditional song structures, extended track lengths, conceptual theme, and variety. While there is still that tiny bit of improvement needed, it just makes me crave the next Astral Luminous release, even more. I look forward to how Johnson's songwriting progresses more.
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