Peculiar. Junon is said to consist of members from renowned German bands such as Hidden In The Fog, Imha Tarikat and Temple Koludra, yet only a single band member is put forward on the information I know how to consult. Well, I honestly do not care. Black metal musicians — and musicians tout court — can sometimes be rather peculiar, strange creatures.
The Golden Citadel Of The Astral Sphere follows a demo that supposedly appeared sometime in 2025. I, Voidhanger Records is releasing this debut album. The music on this record is said to be a psychedelic form of black metal that sits somewhere between The Devil’s Blood and Deathspell Omega.
The music on this album may well prove to be a difficult undertaking to fully comprehend. After all, I read that a foundation of second-wave black metal is further expanded with psychedelic rock influences, virtuosic and untamed female vocals, and avant-garde compositional elements. None of this madness seems to be audible in the first ten-minute track. At a furious pace, scratchy and dissonant black metal passages are spewed forth, accompanied by vocals delivered in German. But hold on tight: somewhere around the two-minute mark, ghostly passages replace the opening section, and before long you find yourself lost in a labyrinth of sounds. Unterm Glutmond brings a rusty, dusty backdrop to life, doing so in a simmering and oppressive manner.
The album’s shortest track, Inanitas Cedit Profundo (Die Leere weicht der Tiefe), attempts to seize you with oddly delivered vocals and deep-throated sounds. It certainly does not miss its target. In this colour and shape, it has become a gripping ritualistic and occult track. The twenty-one-minute-long Dolorosa represents a calvary journey in its purest form. It presents a composition that is built up from basic sounds toward a climax shaped once more by those enigmatic female vocals and a more robust acoustic guitar passage right at the very end.
The Golden Citadel Of The Astral Sphere by the German band (?) Junon is ultimately a particularly hypnotic and peculiar trip through black metal territory. More characteristic black metal is blended with female vocals that seem to come from another dimension. You are then pulled into precisely that other dimension by an expressive and at times dissonant palette of sounds. Can you still follow?
Score:
80/100
Label:
I, Voidhanger Records, 2026
Tracklisting:
- Propheten der blauen Flamme
- Unterm Glutmond
- Inanitas Cedit Profundo (Die Leere weicht der Tiefe)
- Dolorosa
Line-up:
- Junon – Vocals, all instruments
Links: