review by: Roberto Martinelli

Judas Iscariot has returned to the fine form present on the album Heaven in Flames, and not a moment too soon.

After a rather bland effort (To Embrace the Corpses Bleeding, review in issue #8) in which the band was going for speed and sacrificing atmosphere, and departing from the superior high rasp for a lower and crappier register, Judas Iscariot has once again embraced the slower and more meaningful feel of his superior works.

You'll get the kind of slow, atmospheric song that fans have come to hope from Judas Iscariot, but there is also a bit of experimentation with a more jaunty slow beat. Perhaps Akhenaten has been inspired by the recent inclusion of a disco beat used by raw black metal compatriot Kanwulf on Nargaroth's MCD Rasluka Pt.II.

The last song of this 4-track MCD is a blisteringly fast one, once again drums courtesy of Akhenaten's best buddy, Cryptic Winter. This song is also a quality effort, being generally of the same caliber of the excellent MCD Dethroned, Conquered and Forgotten.

With a fine return to form musically and vocally, made even better by competent drummers and a production that is once again suitable to Judas Iscariot's style, Moonlight Butchery is an album that black metal purists should definitely seek out.