Bandcamp trawling was quite profitable for me in 2023, along with the stunning post-metal masterpiece from Chora I also stumbled onto Vnder A Crvmbling Moon’s debut 0.1 The Prelude. It instantly became one I noted to keep an eye on and it was quickly followed up by the Church Road Records release I: Oblivion which further stretched the post-metal roots of the band. The pace of the bands creations couldn’t fit into the Church Road schedule but thankfully the wondrous Ripcord Records has picked up II: Aging & Formless. Here Vnder A Crvmbling Moon has really started to nail together its identity with 7 tracks of excellent post-metal with many flavours thrown into the mix.
To save me from repeating too much into the history and processes of the band, David Bowes recently did an excellent interview with band founder Scott Taylor which really tells a good story of how the band came to reaching this point. Whilst you can feel the background of previous band Garganjua there is far more of a solid post-metal foundation here. Opener ‘Nomad’ may be somewhat of a typical post-metal song but its execution is stunning. Brilliant guitar work, pulsing synths, keys, bass and drums all mix to hit a ridiculously good crescendo at 4 minutes before a vocal has even entered the fray. There is always a collection of bands that run off the tongue when talking about post-metal but outside of the more laid back tranquillity of ‘Fall…Still’ and a section in the excellent closer ‘Bury Me With The Fallen Trees’, that is about the only reference I could pin to Cult of Luna.
The tracks that really grab me such as ‘Breach The Sky’ and ‘The Breathing of Monsters’ have more of a flavour of Dvne, Humanfly and Bossk. There is a feeling of being on a journey, the riffs sweep through a weedian atmosphere but with the clarity of space. ‘Breach The Sky’ has an exceptional crescendo featuring clean and screamed vocals that would rouse pleasure from most post-metal fans with an inner post-hardcore love. The main tracks are all stretching to ten minutes but everything is filled with purpose and ‘Bury Me With The Fallen Trees’ is a classic closing track at 13 and a half minutes.
With this its third release Vnder A Crvmbling Moon has firmly put its name at the forefront of a burgeoning UK post-metal scene. Post-metal fans will find plenty here and there is enough variety and strength in approach to appeal to fans of more stoner varieties too. II: Aging & Formless is a tremendous release and it doesn’t even feel like the band has hit its peak yet.
