night clouded moon

• Edition: Limited to 227 copies
• Packaging: Fully laminated sleeve with 2 inserts

Night Clouded Moon presents the previously unheard original 1971 studio sessions by British progressive rock band Diabolus. Beautifully played and professionally recorded, the album combines forceful, dramatic passages with delicate acoustic sections, jazz-influenced instrumentation and an adventurous early progressive sound.

The music frequently recalls the atmosphere of early King Crimson, moving between powerful ensemble playing, flute and saxophone-led jazz rock, pastoral melodies and darker, more experimental passages. Despite these reference points, Diabolus developed a distinctive style, with complex arrangements and a strong continental, almost Krautrock-like character.

The sessions were financed by producer Shel Talmy after the band's manager persuaded him to give Diabolus studio time in July 1971. Talmy considered the results insufficiently commercial and sent the group back to record a second set of sessions the following month. Those later recordings were eventually sold to the German Bellaphon label and released as the band's highly collectable 1972 LP. The original July recordings remained unheard in the archive for more than fifty years.

Only the title track also appeared on the Bellaphon album, and even that is presented here in a substantially different version. Released for the first time by Bright Carvings, Night Clouded Moon offers an important missing chapter in the history of British underground progressive rock.

Track listing:

Side A

Track listing:

Side A
A1. View From A Window
A2. Twilight
A3. Night Clouded Moon
A4. Oracle

Side B
B1. Gathering Of The Waters
B2. I Thought I Saw
B3. Oasis
B4. Breaking Of The Seals
B5. Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse
B6. Oh! Mistress Mine