Wznowienie starych nagrań AS SERENITY FADES / AUGUST MOON w czerwcu

 

On June 13th internationally, Personal Records is proud to present a special expanded reissue of Earthborn / Lowering Sunset / Rosegardens, the collected early works of As Serenity Fades and August Moon, on CD format.

For the first time ever and lasting over 65 minutes, all the works of As Serenity Fades - including the lost-classic Earthborn EP plus the preceding cult demo Lowering Sunset, as well as the obscure Rosegardens demo of August Moon (who shared As Serenity Fades' Tom Henriksson and Peter Viherkanto) - will receive a proper CD treatment. Dark Symphonies Records released the original collection in 2011 on vinyl only, so it never got the CD format. As a bonus, this CD edition has As Serenity Fades' final Deux demo as bonus tracks, which is the rarest of all material here, altogether making for an utterly vivid journey into mid-'90s nostalgia.

One of the great "what if?s" of the '90s metal underground, Finland's As Serenity Fades were very much a product of their times - but on the undeniable strength of their small discography, they doubtlessly helped define those times. The band's first demo, 1993's Lowering Sunset, evocatively tapped into the then-tiny melodic death metal subgenre, still in its birth stages, remaining rough and ragged but stuffed full of majestic melancholy. A year later came the absolutely classic Earthborn, released by cult Adipocere Records. Sharpening their songwriting and execution, the four-song / 17-minute EP is some of the most emotional melodeath of the time (or any time) and, despite its brevity, still stands strong alongside contemporaneous works by Septic Flesh, Amorphis, Edge of Sanity, Gorement, or even At the Gates. Even some of the doomier textures nodded to the Peaceville Three, whose work back then ran parallel to melodic death metal.

Along the way, the aforementioned Henriksson and Viherkanto (drums and guitar, respectively) sought another creative outlet, and thus was August Moon born. More attacking, more complex, maybe a bit blackened, and even with a bit of that characteristic Finnish weirdness, the band's Rosegardens demo from '93 maintained a comparable emotional heft and served as an equally compelling counterpart to As Serenity Fades. As fate would have it, the short-lived August Moon would later re-form in 2014 and then take a whole decade to release a debut album, the stunning Something Eldritch and Macabre (courtesy of Personal), but As Serenity Fades would nevertheless continue for a few more years, recording the extremely rare Deux demo in 1996. Cementing their cultness - the band's status still remains unknown, never having officially "broken up" - Deux really stretched their creative wings, showcasing a much-cleaner vocal style and conspicuously brighter riffing and lead-work, but still very much sounding like As Serenity Fades at their most emotive. A fitting (and ESSENTIAL) close to this collection, which comes highly recommended to old and new fans of August Moon as well as anyone whose heart burns for the '90s metal underground. The past is alive...still!

In the meantime, stream the entire expanded collection HERE at Personal Records' Bandcamp. Preorder info can be found HERE. Cover and tracklisting are as follows:

Tracklisting for Earthborn / Lowering Sunset / Rosegardens bonus-track edition

As Serenity Fades - Earthborn MCD 1994

1. Tear-Seas

2. Yearning

3. Oriental

4. Earthborn

As Serenity Fades - Lowering Sunset demo 1993

5. Intro

6. Land Of The Burning Stars

7. Bewailing Porticos

8. The Keen (Part 1)

August Moon - Rosegardens demo 1993

9. In Silence

10. Daydreams

11. Rosegardens

12. Silhouette Of Greed

13. The "Sweet" Elegy

As Serenity Fades – Deux demo 1996 (bonus tracks)

14. Release Me Again

15. Levity

16. Borrowed Time