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oltreLuna is Italian Sci-Fi metallers Progenie Terrestre Pura's second album. Progenie Terrestre Pura mix black metal, synths and electronica, similar to Mesarthim (though they predate the Australian duo by a few years), but the result is very different.
Many "cosmic black metal" bands focus on evoking the vastness, wonder and loneliness of space. Mesarthim, in particular; their hugely dynamic mix with distant sounding guitars and vocals supported by synths at home in a 70's documentary evokes a particular cosmic atmosphere. Rather than evoking space, Progenie Terrestre Pura specifically evoke modern epic science fiction by taking a decidedly modern approach to their synth-ey metal.
The metal side of the coin features very distorted guitars and vocals, almost to the point of industrial metal and the electronic parts feature harsher sounds, favouring sawtooth synths and dubstep pulsing. This is complemented by an array of ethnic instruments and percussion as well as some chanting, rounding out the sound. Like Mesarthim, though, everything cohesively fits together.
Though lumped into "atmospheric black metal" they lean much more on melody and riffs than many of their genre comrades. Most of the metal parts are guitar led with soaring melodies underpinned by frenetic percussion. Though the overall sound of the band is great, the commitment to melody is what really sells it for me. It anchors the whole record in a way that can be lacking in atmospheric music.
The downside to the otherwise excellent record is the production. oltreLuna is very dynamically compressed muddying the detail in the metal sections in particular. There are some amazing passages with a fantastic guitar lead over top of interesting rhythm guitar, supported by synths and excellent drumming, but the mix creates a much less distinct separation than there should be for the band's epic scope.
Despite the production complaints Progenie Terrestre Pura are a truly unique metal band and well worth checking out.