Junon – The Golden Citadel of the Astral Sphere
Release Date: 15th May 2026
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Black Metal
FFO: Hasard, Parfaxitas, Deathspell Omega.
Review By: Aeons Burning
Junon is not your typical black metal outfit, and is instead completely run by frontwoman and creator Junon. The best part is her being totally anti-fascist, so you never have to worry about indirectly supporting nazis through here. Add in your blend of required weirdness due to this being an I, Voidhanger project, and the result is a very interesting debut record that might not be perfect but is well worth your time, because you’re not finding anything that sounds like this for a while or even ever. Sure, you can glance at the FFOs and see three bands that have a roughly similar sound palette, but the beauty of I, Voidhanger as a label means that true uniqueness is almost guaranteed, regardless of whether the music itself is good or not.
Junon itself is black metal, and the first three songs are a fantastic grouping of the psychier sound, with the result being a very uncomfortable group of songs that neither teleport you into space nor create satisfyingly trippy atmospheres, but instead make you realize that you’ve taken some laced weed, and it’s an uncomfortable high, to say the least. Propheten der blauen Flamme is a challenging song to get through on its own, at ten minutes, but while it’s a challenge, you get used to Junon’s modus operandi here relatively quickly: creating a refreshingly ugly-sounding black metal that forces you to pay attention to what’s going on lest you lose sight of the vision underneath the various layers.
There aren’t any other artists credited from what I found, making this project even more impressive to me that one woman created this nightmare of a record. But it’s the complete and unapologetically organic ambition that ultimately causes The Golden Citadel of the Astral Sphere to stumble slightly. The positively monolithic closer Dolorosa clocks in at just over twenty minutes, but for an uncomfortably long stretch doesn’t do much before finally committing to the bit and submerging fully into a sea of hyper-aggressive blasts and mournful trems. While Dolorosa rewards the patient, waiting over ten minutes for the best part of the closing epic of the album is an interesting strategy, to say the least.
Junon will hit for you if you’re a fan of exploring uncomfortable sounds. This is raw-sounding, yet the production is pretty approachable for one not accustomed to how minimalistic production can get. The Golden Citadel of the Astral Sphere is not easy listening at all though, and it rewards the patience rather than the demanding, because the end result is a strong debut that only has the potential to get better with time. There’s a reason why I love I, Voidhanger as a label, and that’s their unwavering commitment to pushing the boundaries of the misunderstood and bizarre in the vast, varied ocean of metal.
(3.5 / 5)
