Chris says: The "single" off our first album, Tales From Rivelin, this has continued to be a popular song for us to play live, even if the lyrical approach isn't quite in keeping with the general theme of our newer songs. Nevertheless, it's got a pretty catchy riff and people seem to enjoy dancing to it, so in that sense it's a good set-closer. With this song, I actually wrote the intro melody in about 10 minutes before I was due to go out for a Rock Society social, on my Gibson Flying V; I was noodling away idly, came up with the intro melody, quickly wrote it down then proceeded to tab the vast majority of the song in a very short space of time. It was also a very easy song for us to straighten out in the practice room; since it's all the same tempo and doesn't have too many awkward changes or complicated sections, it wasn't hard for us to get to a point where we could blast through it fairly expertly. Plus, I wrote myself two guitar solos in this song, bookending a (superb!) flute solo by Catie... I don't write myself many guitar solos for Northern Oak, so I figured I should have a chance to show off and use lots of Floyd Rose abuse. :P
lyrics
Forest soaked in a ghostly glow,
in the village a monstrous woe,
the lupine call of the silver moon.
Beckoning! Summoning!
Howling changeling of lunar birth,
altered shape stalking the earth,
a savage night spent under the curse.
Skulking! Hunting!
Down there in the heedless town,
the seething hex at its gory crown,
bloodlust and rage amongst the gloom,
the madness of the feral moon!
Night of the wolf a fatal time,
desert the camps, flee the mine,
hide away from the wolfen fiend.
Harking! Tracing!
The final scream of helpless prey,
shredded and torn in a frenzied way,
human meat a vicious feast.
Devouring!
Guitar solo- Flute solo- Guitar solo- Keyboard solo
Down there in the heedless town,
the seething hex at its gory crown,
bloodlust and rage amongst the gloom,
the madness of the feral moon!
Blood has fallen, silence resounds!
Broken by the screaming hounds!
Run back to your earthen tomb!
Suffer the madness of the feral moon!
credits
from Tales From Rivelin,
released March 1, 2008
Lyrics: James Harris
Music: Chris Mole
Founded in early 2006 during a wintry excursion to the Peak District, Northern Oak have been spreading their unique brand of
flute-heavy progressive folk metal across Sheffield and the rest of the UK ever since.
Our music sounds like Jethro Tull played by extreme metal fans with an appreciation for everything from Pink Floyd to Emperor....more
Atmospheric black/folk metal which creates a fantastic aural soundscape- the windswept highlands of Scotland, populated only by nature and the sky. Highly recommended! Northern Oak
supported by 14 fans who also own “Madness of the Feral Moon”
Easily one of the best metal albums of the 2010s, which says something.
Musically, it's like you've taken black metal, doom, and good old NWOBHM and thrown it into a blender for a while.
More impressively, the lyrics to these songs are some of the most hauntingly beautiful and devastating I've ever heard.
Case in point, Junta. Just listen to it. grungiernine0
Australian band Aquilus smashes genre boundaries to smithereens, combining classical orchestration with black metal on this riveting LP. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 13, 2021