Lum is an Italian Black metal two-piece that weaves an often harmonic lined & grandly atmospheric take on the genre- which adds in touches of orchestration, folk and martial percussion to its make-up.  Lunaria - I Racconti Del Falò is the band’s first full-length, following on from 2021’s EP  L'feu e la Stria Ep. And I must say it’s a very well-realized full-length debut-  blending well grimness, grandeur, melody & atmosphere.

The CD album is released by Sweden’s Nigredo Records- coming presented in a  black white, and grey-coloured schemed glossy digipak. On its front cover, we have dark-but-wistful side profile of a woman with the moon above her, and inside we get the song's lyrics that are in Italian. The album is ltd to just 300 copies-to find out more drop by here.
 
Lum were formed in Turin, Piedmont in 2020. And the project consists of Khrura Abro( Feralia, Inchiuvatu, Ponte del Diavolo)- bass, guitar, keyboards. S( The Ghost Gardener)- drums & vocals
 
The album features eight tracks in all- with the whole album having a fairly neat & trim runtime of thirty-six minutes. We open with the instrumental track “Orch” which begins with deep brooding synth strings & thunder cracks, before opening into a grand & slowly marching procession of swooningly layered string harmonics & martial percussion lines. As we move on we have the galloping rush of “La stirpes del boco” which is battering & cymbal smarting BM, lined with a light string-led melody line. During the tracks run flute and chiming timbre elements are added to create a even more grandly galloping vibe- and one is getting images of a large herd of horse racing across a ragged yet vast landscape. We have “Libera fiamma” which opens with lightly tolling piano keys, darkly wishful string swoon, and steady even percussion- with a brief blacked vocal bark used to great effect- then were speeding off to gunning BM lined with blacked bays, but still underfed by string harmonics. With nice atmospheric breakdown featuring chanted male choirs, metallic soloing, and light flute trails.
 
In the second half of the record, we go from the blacked metal romp meets darken folk rock jigging of “Figli del crepuscolo“ with once again a subtle but effective use of male choirs &  flighty flute-like trails. With the album playing out with an almost blacked groove meets the soaring grandeur of “La montagna dentro” with its blacked tremolo riffing layered with marching vibe detail & subtle melody dramatics.
 
 
Lunaria - I Racconti Del Falò really manages to step out of the mediocrity of much of the modern Black Metal genre- to offer up a distinctive and already well-rounded sound. So I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for Lum’s name in the future- and I can certainly recommend this album if you enjoy where galloping BM grimness meets dark melody & grandeur.