Although the members of Moonshine claim to be apolitical, they seem to be in touch with some of the darker realities of life. For instance, the inspiration for their last album, Shined by Darkness, came from the political and economic darkness the group identifies with South Korea. The cover picture on the album is of the disastrous collapse of the Sampoong department store in 1995, which they see as emblematic of life in South Korea.

So, this is not a happy-go-lucky band, and their music reflects it. The first cut on the CD is Ablaze (Let Me Burn) [MP3] and it makes for an intense listening experience. The lyrics are almost indecipherable (in any language) which is endemic to this style of rock. Even more severe is Burning Corpse [MP3]. The vocals on this are less raucous, but the rest of the song is in double-time, which really makes the blood race.

Although Moonshine has a definite style, I was pleased to see that they experimented with different tempos. Here Lies [MP3] has the same vocal style as Burning Corpse [RealAudio], but the pace is slower. In fact, there is even a mellow phrase or two. The lead guitar work in Here Lies [RealAudio] is especially strong (listen for it about 3 minutes into the song), and it seems that if Moonshine ever wanted to go into "regular" rock, they'd have a very solid sound.

Domesticated Creature [MP3] has the familiar Moonshine bass line and vocals. The vocals are performed by the lead of the group, Amon. He's one of the three permanent members of Moonshine at this time [the other two are Torr (keyboards) and Giga (drums)]. The bass is played by a session bassist, Pain (who likes both the English meaning of his name, as well as the Korean meaning of "useless person").

Giga has his work cut out for him in Wake Up the Moon [MP3] (I wish my drumming skills were half what his are). This songs strong instrumental appeal grows with Torr's nice keyboard work. Black Sleeves [MP3] is a clever, but twisted version of the traditional Greensleeves which is also available for download.

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