Year: 2024
Label: Заржавевшая Рябина
Rating: 7,8 / 10
The MOONLIGHT PROWLER project stands out from the general mass of Kaldrad's followers, who make up the vast majority of the Frosty Rowan label's roster. And it's a rather unusual guest for Bagnik Zine, but there's nothing wrong with that.
The cover of "Weird Town", made mostly in thick pink and purple colors, immediately makes it clear that we are looking at retro synth. This stuff, I love it, although I rarely listen to it, and my tastes here are very simple – just give me palm trees, romance, Miami and cheerful “racing” rhythms. The magnificent first track brings just these emotions. However, as it turns out later, these are just the last few minutes of warm reverie, followed by dark deeds. A prowler in leather raincoat with a hood, who loves to walk the streets in the night, goes out into the courtyard to see the last rays of the sun and meet the stars, lighting up in the sky right next to his beloved: the full moon. He gets into his cool futuristic car with the obligatory etractable headlights and drives to a Weird Town where something terrible always happens.…
"Weird Town" (to my personal regret) follows the path of the so-called horror synth. That is, this music is inspired primarily by horror movies about maniacs and haunted houses. And, of course, Carpenter (John, not Brut). Therefore, the romance of the first track quickly gives way to tougher, darker sounds and feelings, perfectly familiar to everyone who saw at least a couple movies in his life. Cemented by samples and titles, each track embodies certain scenes: here we have a killer chasing a victim, here a young police officer turns gray while looking at the mutilated bodies in the morgue, and there, a bit further, is a dark alley where someone or something very sinister is hiding. And above all this, there is Prowler, whose hand, that holds a sharp knife, definitely has something to do with every tragic and mysterious case that happens in Weird Town.
In terms of feeling and sound, MOONLIGHT PROWLER is 100% successful. In its gloom, the music does not fall into dark ambient, and the sound palette remains within the limits of what is allowed, without crossing into the territory of any neighboring electronic genre. As for the compositions themselves, most of them are very good. However, there are also questionable moments where the music lacks a certain direction and, probably, some kind of sophistication. MOONLIGHT PROWLER is an anonymous project, but I have a strong feeling that a metalhead stands behind it. Because someone with electronic music background would probably treat these moments differently.
The cassette edition looks interesting: instead of a standard case, it contains a cardboard box similar to those where game cards are stacked. Instead of a J-card, which is unnecessary here (because it's pure music without lyrics), there are two stickers inside. An additional stylish touch can be found at the back: in bloody font, it says "Directed by ZARZHAVEVSHAYA RYABINA". Details on the video. on a video.
By the way, the album can be legally downloaded for free from Bandcamp.
