Feature: Duister Maanlicht Releases Ranked From Worst to Best

It’s 1994 all over again. Few bands within the unblack metal underground are as obscure or difficult to get into as the mysterious Duister Maanlicht from the Netherlands. Centred around the label Sneeuwstorm Produkties and featuring a ludicrous amount of rotating band members in its history, Duister Maanlicht’s black metal is about as raw as it gets – just the way I like it. This is black metal for lovers of the hostile sounds that most metalheads think of when they think of black metal; in other words, it’s not for everybody, nor really is it designed to be. You’ll notice a huge gap in the band’s releases, with a lengthy hiatus being taken from around 2005 to 2020, with long-time member Heidendoder taking over the band entirely from 2021 onward. Though some of the band’s best efforts can be found on their EP’s, here we’ll be sticking to albums only. With that in mind, let’s take a deep dive into the furthest reaches of the underground and rank every Duister Maanlicht release!

Als Zwarte Engelen Sterven

I’ve usually found that a band’s earliest recordings are generally their best, being the band at their most unadulterated, pure, and original. Not so here; in fact, spoiler alert – this band only gets better with age in many cases. Duister Maanlicht’s debut is almost the black metal equivalent of no-wave music; in other words, it’s almost anti-music. As far as I can tell, no members on this album are even still in the band (not even Heidendoder, who is the longest running and only remaining member of the band!), but hey – Napalm Death has had no original members since the second half of Scum. It happens sometimes. But musically-speaking, this one just doesn’t work. The vocals are raspy, juvenile whines, the drum machine whirs and spits like a broken fan, and the whole thing feels like an experiment. Only for the curious and the completionists. 

Tocht door het Dodenrijk

It’s pretty interesting to me when a band trashes their own material – according to the Sneeuwstorm Produkties Bandcamp site, it’s “the worst ever Duister Maanlicht release.” Is it? No, I think that’s reserved for their debut. But it certainly isn’t particularly good either, and is in my mind, a step back from Vaandeldragers van het kwaad. The mix is lopsided in every direction, the vocals very upfront in the mix, the guitar tone sounds like a tiny practice amp set to maximum treble, and the drums tinny and distant. Obviously, I’m probably being too harsh considering how this was probably never intended to be anything other than some demo-level experimentation, but when you compare it all to the band’s other material, it’s hard to dig it.

Vaandeldragers van det Kwaad

A massive leap in quality from their debut. Don’t get the wrong idea however. Allegedly a rehearsal turned into an album, Vaandeldragers van het kwaad is the audio equivalent of a barely-seared piece of meat. Imagine the frostbitten drunken chaos of Darkthrone’s classic Panzerfaust mixed with the ultra-harsh noise of Verdelger all mashed into one, but played live in a garage somewhere in 1991 by a band just getting the hang of their instruments. It’s not musically very proficient, but you get the impression when listening to this that they’re on the right track. For myself, I find the ridiculously lo-fi rawness of this one charming in spite of itself. 

Woude van de Kwade Geest

Combining elements of both the records that preceded it, Woude van de Kwade Geest mixes the repetitive black metal of Over Zwarte Kunsten, Hekserij en Andere Dienaren van het Kwaad with the hypnotic rhythms of Wolves in the Throne Room’s Black Cascade, albeit with a much more lo-fi, muddled production. The riffing here offers a bit more of a sense of melody amidst the melancholy and the darkness while maintaining the minimalist approach the band has become known for in its latter era. That said, the songs tend to blur together too much on this one for it to get a higher ranking. Still, it’s miles and miles ahead of the three above.

Over Zwarte Kunsten, Hekserij en Andere Dienaren van het Kwaad

Duister Maanlicht’s return album after around 15 years of silence,Over Zwarte Kunsten, Hekserij en Andere Dienaren van het Kwaadsets the tone for the band’s sound from this point in time on. Drawing heavily from the droning raw black metal heard not only on Darkthrone’s Transilvanian Hunger, but also Paysage d’Hiver’s Nacht, Duister Maanlicht embark on a minimalistic homage to early 90’s black metal in a big way here. The difference with this one from other later works is in its heavier bass tone and more upfront, deeper vocal work. For me, the strength of Heidendoder’s vocals lies in their being woven into the rest of the instruments, neither dominating nor being buried, and this one’s vocals are just a little too upfront to put it higher.

Influisteringin van de Duivel

Adopting a more latter-day Darkthrone influence (i.e. a sort of crusty black ’n roll sound), Heaven’s Metal’s very own fellow extreme metal fan Loyd Harp noted elements of early crust punk on this one. If you’ve dug the sounds of anything Darkthrone has done from Panzerfaust to Arctic Thunder, and love what Anima Mortuum is doing, this one will be to your liking. The dynamic approach heard on this one (relatively speaking, of course) is a breath of fresh air, with sole member Heidendoder nailing the perfect mix of first and second wave black metal. It’s frankly exciting to hear this blast of old school black metal coming out today without it all feeling artificial. One of the band’s strongest efforts, and their most varied.

Over Ketters, Heksen en Anders Gespuis

The last release before the band’s self-imposed years-long hiatus, Over Letters, Heksen en Anders Gespuis begins with a strange folkish flute intro before descending into utter chaos. This is the album that is the long-lost sibling to Verdelger’s uber-feral In Het Holst van de Zwarte Nacht – a singularly unpleasant (in a good way) slab of rancorous black metal rife with ear-piercing feedback (think Ulver’s Nattens Madrigal album), super overdriven distortion, crisp and frantic drum work, and absolutely blood-curdling shrieks. For some reason, the ominous-sounding funeral march of “In het Klooster van het Kwaad” is produced at half the volume or so of the rest of the album, but frankly, that’s my only real complaint about this record. This is nasty stuff in the vein of Fire Throne’s infamous 2004 demo’s, the band at their most visceral, and I’m here for it. The best of the pre-hiatus period by a long shot.

Werken van de duisternis

Werken van de Duisternis picks up where Woude van de Kwade Geest left off, keeping the melancholic tone of the latter while emphasizing a clearer production, more structural variation, and greater atmosphere. The riffs on here sound like genuine lamentations, much like what Heidendoder has been doing with his more atmospheric black metal project Herfstdood. Here, I find the overt Darkthrone circa-Transilvanian Hunger vibes of Woude van de Kwade Geest have here been blended quite well with the sounds of old-school USBM act Judas Iscariot and developed into a slightly more nuanced and fresher sound. Heidendoder’s (perhaps unintentional) spin on the riff heard on the title track of Judas Iscariot’s Heaven in Flames release works on so many levels, and in “In het Vuur Geworpen” keeps up with the first-wave black metal stylings of Anima Mortuum in a big way. It’s arguably the band’s best work yet, upping the production value without losing in any way the lo-fi sound the band is known for. Autumnal, brooding, classic black metal. 

Check out the band HERE and Sneeuwstorm Produkties here. 

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