MOONSPELL

Blessed be the Top Albums of the Year lists! Preparing mine for The Metal Observer forced me to look back at a bunch of 2021 albums that I had overlooked at the time they were initially released. Among them there is Hermitage, Moonspell's 12th full-length studio album (I am not counting Under Satanae that contains re-recordings of the band's early material). In the 1990s, the Portuguese goth metallers were one of my favourite metal bands, but I somehow lost touch with their obscure art at some point during the late 2000s. Hermitage, however, gloriously reminded me why I was so in love with Moonspell during my teens: it is a superb album, dark and elegant, full of variety and class, that builds on the band's classic sound but also ventures in new directions, subtly merging together gothic metal, extreme metal and modern progressive rock.

I have to confess that, when I gave Hermitage its first spin, it wasn't instant love. The album sounded slick and classy, but also hazy, understated and difficult to grasp. None of the melodies or arrangements stood out. The album flowed away pleasantly, but I felt there weren't enough moments that really grabbed my attention and pulled me in. Curiously, the same had happened to me with another Moonspell's album, released exactly twenty years ago: 2001's Darkness and Hope. I remember it took me many spins to fully appreciate that album, pretty much for the same reasons I initially struggled to connect with Hermitage: the melodies felt too subtle and elusive and the atmospheres too understated, to the point that the album seemingly lacked a strong character and identity. It was only after a half-dozen listens that Darkness and Hope finally opened up to me and I could fully appreciate its delicate and obscure beauty, for which I still consider it today one of the best albums by the Portuguese combo. Mindful of that experience, I decided to persevere and kept playing Hermitage until the album finally clicked with me. And, boy, I am so glad that I did.

Hermitage is an album that only a band as classy, talented and experienced as Moonspell could have written. "Mature" is probably the word I am looking for. The record oozes sophistication and aplomb as it takes the listener to a dazzling journey through different shades of dark rock anchored in the band's classic gothic sound, but modernized with a multitude of different influences, from modern progressive/alternative rock, to psychedelia, to jazz and electronic music. All these influences are blended together with disarming simplicity, relying on minimalistic arrangements and a warm, stripped-down sound that exalts the essence of each song.

The album's first five tracks are extraordinary, in this respect. They each explore a distinct sonic niche without failing to retain strong cohesiveness and consistency. "The Greater Good" flirts with the dark alt/prog metal of bands like Soen and Anathema, with muscular grooves and hypnotic guitar riffs, while retaining a strong gothic allure that explodes in the surprisingly heavy finale. "Common Prayers" shifts weight towards more traditional gothic rock atmospheres, while "All or Nothing" is a delicate slowburner that lulls its way through groovy drum patterns, bluesy guitar riffs and a gorgeously Floydian solo, conjuring up visions of smoky jazz clubs after midnight. Meanwhile, the almost punkish title-track brings to the fore the band's black metal roots, and "Entitlement" harks back to the tasteful experiments with electronica that Moonspell also attempted previously in their discography (for instance, their 1998's Sin/Pecado album).

The second half of the album is perhaps a tad less spectacular. It contains two slightly lacklustre instrumentals (though the cold piano arpeggio of "City Quitter" provides a spellbinding album finale) and a song, "Apophthegmata", that builds on an interesting atmosphere but ultimately does not develop into much more. However, we are also treated with what is probably the best track of the LP, "The Hermit Saints". Pretty much like the album opener, this song takes Moonspell's classic gothic sound and reimagines it through the lens of modern alt/prog rock: Ricardo Amorim's bouncy guitars frantically buzz their riffs over a tapestry of groovy basslines, majestic organs and shifting drum patterns (new drummer Hugo Ribeiro deserves a shout-out here for a stellar performance, perfectly balanced between muscularity and coloration), while Fernando Ribeiro switches back and forth between a deep, velvety croon and his abrasive semi-growls, creating an intoxicating final mix. The album also closes strongly with "Without Rule", probably he Hermitage's most surprising song, with its lysergic vibes that hark back to early Pink Floyd and 1970s psychedelia.

Hermitage is so rich and diverse, and yet at the same time so refined and restrained, that it takes time and patience to properly take in all of the album's different shades and contours. A superficial listen may even confuse its subtlety and elegance for demureness or lack of character. Jaime Gomez Arellano's sober and natural production adds to this false first impression, as the detailed production work only fully blossoms on repeated listens, as one learns to appreciate the exquisite balance in the mix between the different instruments and the overall sonic clarity.

As such, Hermitage is most definitely a grower, albeit one that thoroughly deserves your time investment. When the album finally opens up, it is deeply intoxicating with its obscure romantic atmosphere. The quality of Hermitage that I probably appreciate the most is how fresh, modern and exciting the record sounds while at the same time retaining Moonspell's classic sonic identity. This stands in defiance to Fernando Ribeiro's own words in promo interviews, where the singer questions whether the band's time may be coming to an end. If anything, Hermitage shows that Moonspell are still a fresh and very relevant voice in today's metal, nearly 25 years since they have moved their first steps in the scene. This is a massive achievement for the Portuguese band, and one that not many of their peers can claim to have fulfilled.

[Originally written for The Metal Observer]

While many second wave black metal bands jumped on the bandwagon and rode the wave of the template set down by bands like Mayhem and Darkthrone like a surfer in the Hawaiian Islands, some bands that started out that way jumped in and felt more like Jamaican bobsledders so they decided the status quo wasn't quite for them. Such is the case for the Lisbon, Portugal based MOONSPELL that emerged in 1994 with the debut EP "Under The Moonspell" as a decent but indistinct black metal band but by the time they released the first full-length debut "Wolfheart" a year later, the band started to find its own niche in the quickly exploding scene. While still steeped in black metal, MOONSPELL laced it with a healthy dose of gothic metal inspired by bands like Tiamat, Type O Negative and The Gathering along with some various strains of European folk which together created a rather unique sound in the metal world.

Despite this early development of their own making, MOONSPELL abandoned this metal hybrid as quickly as it had established it and on the sophomore album IRRELIGIOUS, the black metal was totally jettisoned altogether with much of the folk music thrown by the wayside as well. What was left was a more gothic rock infused style that while tamping down the metal in general and replacing it with eerie Gregorian chants and symphonic organ sounds, still had enough metal mojo to qualify it as a metal band but in general, the gothic touches produced a more stylized production job that relied on a tapestry of instrumental sounds to create gloomy atmospheres and romantic visions of Romanian castles with blood thirsty counts on the hunt for another fix. The metal, while still quite abrasive at times had been reserved only for crescendoes and contrasts from the otherwise symphonic dominant melodrama.

The difference between IRRELIGIOUS and "Wolfheart" is stark and immediate as the album begins with a soundtrack sounding intro called "Perverse? Almost Religious" which takes spooky church organs and choral chants to evoke a full moon lit night journey into the graveyard and beyond. As "Opium" begins the nosedive into the world of everything goth, it's also noticeable that the black metal guitar distortion has been replaced by a slicker guitar fuzz that plays in tandem with a hypnotic bass groove and slowed down percussive drive. Likewise, vocalist Fernando Ribeiro almost abandons any harsh screamed vocals except for the most dramatic moments and opts for romantic spoken poetic prose along with the clean Type O Negative style that sounds like Count Dracula has decided to make a mini-opera about his perverse proclivities.

"Wolfheart" displayed a strong sense of melodic hooks and IRRELIGIOUS continues this trend with eleven strong tracks that create instant gratification but it's really the compositional flare that makes this such a strong album. The carefully timed developments of the dynamics, tones, timbres and bursts of aggression work out incredibly well and no moments feel like they wear out their welcome nor do they feel rushed. This is just one of those albums that teeters on the balance between too pop and too dark but somehow has enough elements of both sides of the spectrum to please. The tracks are diverse with some ranging on the slower side like "Ruin & Misery" which exudes a slow oozing use of keyboards, crunchy guitar riffage and nonchalant tempo changes. The musicians also show some extended range in their playing abilities. While the drummer simply known as Mike more or less just keeps a beat, on tracks like "For A Taste Of Eternity" he shows a flare for extremely complex polyrhythms and percussive dominance.

Overall the keyboards and samples of Pedro Paixão play the dominant role with the recording of Aleister Crowley reading his own poem "The Poet" on the track "Awake" which exemplifies the occult feel of the album as a whole. IRRELIGIOUS is a nicely paced album that is ultimately an atmospheric gothic rock album with metal touches that take it to heavy heights at key moments. The alternating forces of the symphonic rock and the more sonorous metal sections works quite well as do the stylistic percussion changes and guitar sounds that range from echoey clean to the intemperate unleashed loudness. MOONSPELL was one of those bands that couldn't quite decide where they wanted to stay for long and despite crafting a cleverly cool and wickedly wild ride with this goth metal classic, the band would change things up again and get more experimental on the following "Sin / Pecado" but for this one at least MOONSPELL proved that they had an incredibly keen sense of what it takes to craft the perfect sensual sensibilities that make a great goth rock / metal album.

4.5 rounded down

I tend to be rather sceptical of metal bands making rerecordings, but I'd make Under Satanae by Moonspell a major exception to this. Since the original Anno Satanae and Under the Moonspell demos, which these songs had taken from, the sound of the band had radically transformed from a black metal-dominated sound (with influences of folk and gothic metal beginning to emerge on Under the Moonspell) to a much more predominantly gothic sound.

The genius move Moonspell make here is in not trying to recapture their early sound, but instead adapting these old songs to their new sound, slowing them down, teasing out the gothic and folk metal flourishes that had already been there, and adding further layers of gothic menace besides. The end result is a radical reinterpretation of the material in question which retains a little more black metal fury than was typical for Moonspell at this point in their career but at the same time presents a fresh and new look at these songs, so the rerecording does not feel redundant or unnecessary next to the originals. It's not quite an essential part of their discography, but only because the material they are building on here was when always rather rudimentary compared to their more developed works.

Memo to any other metal band contemplating a rerecording: don't bother unless it's at least a major departure from the original versions as this one is.

WOLFHEART is the debut album by MOONSPELL which incorporates a nice mix of metal styles. Following the approach of their earlier EP "Under The Moonspell," we get a more refined blend of black and Gothic metal mixed with Celtic folk and symphonic touches. The transition from black metal to Gothic metal is taking place on WOLFHEART as the blackened touches are softened and the Gothic elements are increased. The intro with eerie synths and soft guitar sets the tone and atmosphere of a darkened land where blood thirsty wolves and Pagan rituals dominate with lunar madness.

This album really goes all over the place. It starts out in a symphonic black metal fashion but has tracks such as "Lua D'Inverno" that sound more like Pagan Celtic rituals. The vocals are heavily in the Goth department and Fernando Ribeiro's vocals play the perfect part of a blood sucking romeo and bring other Gothic metal bands of the day to mind such as Type O Negative, Tiamat and early Paradise Lost. The song structures are well laid out with aggressive and the lush sensual symphonic parts working well together. The female backing vocals by Birgit Zacher are particularly haunting.

WOLFHEART is a very consistent album and it's a testament to an era when various styles of metal were mixing with various forms of folk music and symphonic touches. MOONSPELL displays a strong command of this hybridity and becomes one of the most successful metal exports from Portugal. While some Gothic metal barely falls into the metal category focusing more on the romantic and sensual rather than the head banging aspects, WOLFHEART displays everything that makes a great Gothic metal album while retaining some excellent black metal aggressive fury as well without going as far as adding blastbeats or turning up the fury to up to extreme levels.

If the cover of UNDER THE MOONSPELL looks familiar its because the album "Under Satanae" has a very close variation of the cover from this debut EP. That is no coincidence since that much more recognized release contains remakes of many of the tracks on this EP. Despite the fact that many of these tracks have been rereleased and improved upon that doesn't negate the fact that these first editions are fairly well constructed tracks themselves. MOONSPELL proved from the getgo that they were a talented and unique entity in the metal world by creatively fusing folk, black and gothic elements together to suit their own purposes. The result is a very successful hybrid that delivers melody, aggression and vampire inspired themes.

MOONSPELL is probably one of the most famous metal acts to emerge from Portugal and on this debut album they lay it all down without hesitation. We hear all the elements that make great metal music churned out in a carefully crafted format. This music really floats my boat as it takes all the elements of the aforementioned metal subgenres and blends them together into a satisfying cohesive whole. Despite the unintelligible lyrics we get the lyrical themes of dark folklore and macabre poetry in both English and Portuguese. In a country where I would expect influences from such homegrown music as Fado and the like, MOONSPELL surprises by integrating a more Celtic folk sound with their blackened Gothic metal in a way that is obvious as to why they have become a major force in the metal world. 3.5 rounded down

On this second album Moonspell seem to dial back the black metal and folk influences which had made their debut such an interesting cocktail and instead choose to focus on gothic metal with some symphonic flourishes. In most cases, I'd be bewailing the fact that their sound had shifted from something unique to something a little more generic, but the album is saved by the fact that Moonspell are actually damn good at the gothic metal game and are able to deliver a solid and enjoyable album in this style. Just don't expect another Wolfheart going in, because I honestly don't think we're going to get one of those.

Alpha Noir offers a snarling, spooky, back-to-basics gothic metal outing which proves that gothic metal bands like Moonspell can still rock out. Not quite as brutal as the claimed influences - classic-era Bathory was never this polished - but it's reasonably listenable, though not memorable. Some editions come not just with bonus tracks, but a whole bonus album in the form of Omega White (recollections of Marilyn Manson's spacey alien Omega persona and "Coma White" fictional lover from Mechanical Animals, perhaps?), which claims to offer a more atmospheric Sisters of Mercy/Type O Negative affair. On balance, I'd say that Omega White is more of a Type O Negative affair than anything (heck, even the vocals sound like a bit like the late Peter Steele), but it's a competent pastiche of their style which is, like its companion, listenable but not especially substantial.

Moonspell's debut album is an interesting blend of disparate forms of metal, taking a gothic metal base and jazzing it up by sprinkling on black metal and symphonic metal influences and lashing all these bits together in a progressive framework, and then cramming on the odd gentle folky moment here and there for good measure.

Although I'm really not into the vocals (with the notable exception of Birgit Zacher's female vocals), on the whole the album is an entertaining listen which shows an excellent command of various approaches to metal, and the band do an excellent job of integrating these various styles without making their compositions sound disjointed or incoherent.

The new limited edition of Moonspell's "Alpha Noir / Omega White" output represents the two faces of the band, their two pounding hearts, Portugal's best metal band's yin and yang.

Alpha Noir is a dark and pretty heavy record that should please to those who liked the early years of the band with releases such as Anno Satanae, Under The Moonspell and Wolfheart. Fernando Ribeiro only employs growls, shouts and raw dark chants on this first disc. The music hits the same nerve and features some quite fast thrash riffs but also more melodic parts.

The opener "Axis Mundi" varies from harmonic dark chants over slightly blackened growls and musically from thrash riffs in the first minutes to very melodic and inoffensive parts in the beautiful bridge. The opening moments even make me think of Judas Priest's epic "Loch Ness". This song offers maybe the highest degree of diversity on both records and is an excellent song but simply doesn't fit as an opener. It's rather hard to digest and should have resumed the album as a closing track but not as a first strike. The first single "Lickanthrope" is much more simple and maybe too simple after the opener and can't truly convinvce me.

After this controversial first impression, the best tracks can be found later on that disc. The first highlight after a mellow start is the portuguese "En Nome Do Medo". It has a dominating bass line, a very apocalyptic atmosphere and is easily the most intense track on this first record. It's still a quite catchy song even though it's one of the hardest tracks the band has released in years. The guitar solo is very emotional, the bridge quite dark but with catchy riffs and loads of keyboard sounds reminding me a little bit of Crematory.

Another highlight is the quite progressive "Grandstand", a slow to mid paced track that creates a haunting atmosphere and works once again a lot with dark bass guitar tones, melodic doom passages, an excellent heavy metal guitar solo, an amazing middle part with acoustic guitars and Ribeiro's emotional screams. The track sounds like a slowed down version of Dimmu Borgir plus some melancholic elements that could come from Novembers Doom, Paradise Lost or The Old Dead Tree which are three very good references.

In the end, this first part is amongst the hardest material the band has released since their first regular studio output "Wolfheart" and should definitely please to fans of the old days. Some tracks build up a haunting atmosphere and convince with almost progressive ideas but there are also a couple of fillers on this release. Some tracks might eventually grow and request a lot of attention such as "Versus" with its excellent and disturbing guitar work reminding me of Voivod. On the other side, the harder stuff such as the first single "Lickanthrope" or the title track "Alpha Noir" can only partially convince and lack of something truly gripping or original that might make them stand out.

Omega White is the opposite of Alpha Noir. It is a very appeasing record with loads of piano melodies, acoustic guitar passages and only clean vocals. This record might please to gothics and those modern fans that rather liked the calmer stuff of the band and not their black metal roots or their progressive era. On the other side, this record has the same problem as the first disc. The opener "Whiteomega" is surely diversified and contains loads of interesting ideas but it can't fully convince as an opener. It's still easier to approach as "Axis Mundi" and fits to the upcoming tracks on this second half of Moonspell's new release. The single "White Skies", as "Lickanthrope" on the other disc, is one of the weaker songs on this disc and would rather fit on a record by The 69 Eyes. In comparison to the first disc, this album is almost too soft at some points and undeniably commercially orientated. "Fireseason" is something I might expect from bands such as HIM but not from Moonspell. Commercially orientated gothics might aodre this song but fans of old Moonspell might easily feel disappointed. I must though admit that this track has a lot of single potential and should have been chosen to represent this album instead of "White Skies" while "En Nome Do Medo" should have taken the place of "Lickanthrope" on the first disc.

The first highlihts of the record also come in the middle of the record. "Herodisiac" employs some strings that make me think of Apocalyptica and the track develops a very melancholic atmosphere. The support of female background vocals and haunting piano melodies underlines this attempt. This is a truly beautiful gothic ballad. It reminds me once again of The 69 Eyes but it has a lot more magic and variation than "White Skies". The next track "Incantatrix" simply employs loads of beautiful melodies and has a big commercial potential. The track has a peaceful atmosphere with beautiful piano melodies, soft guitar harmonies, appeasing drum patterns and very relaxed vocals. It's a track to wake up to in the morning or to calmly make love to. It has a very positive vibe and a light side even though it contains some gothic trademarks. This track is definitely a highlight on this second disc and I was convinced this would be the best song on both records until I heard the final track after another solid one called "Sacrificial". The album closer "A Greater Darkness" simply is a perfect way to conclude this record. It simply resumes everything this second disc stands for. It's a calm hommage to a fallen friend with almost jazzy moments featuring soft bass guitars, calm piano melodies, some string passages and haunting vocals. It's hard to deide whether "Incantatrix" or "A Greater Darkness" is better as they are both sending shivers down my spine but I would maybe go for the closing track after a first couple of tries. I have no doubt that many tracks on this second disc will even grow on me in the near future.

Concerning the second disc, it sounds more coherent than the first one. It contains maybe one or two more or less convincing tracks in the beginning but the rest of the record has a very appeasing, calm and almost spiritual flow. It's the band's most introspective work and contains many magic moments with piano melodies, string passages and soft female background vocals. This album has not much to do with metal music and sounds like a calmer and more progressive hommage to bands such as Paradise Lost, Type 0 Negative or The 69 Eyes.

In the end, both disc have more ups than downs and are worth to be shared with the rest of the world. The first one would get a rating around eighty percent from me while the second disc is more atmospheric, coherent and profound and would come to a rating between ninety and even ninety-five percent. Both discs remind me of the music of the late eighties and early nineties. The first disc employs thrash and black metal elements from that time while the second one focusses on the growing gothic mouvement and also some electronic and pop elements from that time. Both records have a nostalgic feeling without sounding too old fashioned. The band still knows how to write catchy tracks with magic moments, especially on the second disc. As both records contrast very well and represent everything one can like about Moonspell, I might pardon for a couple of fillers and too nostalgic moments, add two or three points and come to a fair rating of ninety percent. This album is full of potential, has many details that may grow on me and is without a doubt a highlight in the band's discography.

I somehow regret that the band didn't release both albums in a separate way as only truly faithful and open-minded will adore both discs. The metal community might rather stick to "Alpha Noir" while the gothic fan base will prefer "Omega White". I really give you the advice to check out both sides of the band. This release is some sort of best of what Moonspell has always stand for since their early years.

Originally published on www.metal-archives.com on June 12th of the year 2012.

This is Moonspell's first album, Wolfheart.

The first song on this album is ''Wolfshade (A Werewolf Masquerade)". The song starts with a clean guitar playing some chords that sound very dark and the riffs are great. I really love the bass line on this one. The next song is ''Love Crimes'', it starts with a very powerfull and catchy riff and the bass line is interesting. Well, I liked this song, but I gotta say that after 3 minutes I just got bored and sick of it, I started getting distracted, maybe if this song wasn't so long I would like it better. ''...Of Dream and Drama (Midnight Ride)'' is nothing special, it's just another song on the album. The ending of the song when Fernando says "Midnight Ride" and it starts echoing really annoyed me. This is not a bad song, but it's nothing special either. The following song is ''Lua D'Inverno'' (In english, Winter Moon). This is an instrumental, one of the best songs on the album IMO. I really liked this one, It's very well composed, the guitar and flute is just amazing and there is feeling everywhere! ''Trebaruna'' is a song sung in Portuguese. Trebaruna is a song that doesn't mean nothing to me, It was kinda boring, I gotta say. The next song is "Vampiria", while listening to the album I was very happy to listen to Vampiria, because I was kinda bored during the previous songs, and I really like this one. The song starts very darkly, with Fernando Ribeiro whispering some lyrics and Keyboard. The female vocalist in this song is wonderful! This is a song that diserves to be heard over and over again. In the middle of the song the electric guitar kicks in playing a riff that's very catchy and heavy. There are many wonderful moments in this song, I really really love it! It's one of the best songs on the album, and I have so much to say about it. The ending is epic, it's a very nice way to finish a song. Then we have ''An Erotic Alchemy'' it starts with a very interesting bass line. It seems that the songs from Vampiria just get better and better. This song is pretty nice actually, I didn't get bored at all! The bass line is wonderfull like in most of these songs. I love how Fernando Ribeiro just says the lyrics in some parts of their songs instead of singig or screaming, I also love is whispers, it's truly fantastic! The next song is the masterpiece, ''Alma Mater''. This is a brilliant song, the main riff is amazing, the lyrics are great! When you start to listen to this album you think it's all boring and nothing special, but when you come to Vampiria, from that point, all the songs are just amazing! Alma Mater is the best song on the album IMO, and the one I listen more. It has a lot of feeling and power. ''Ataegina'' is the last song on this album, it's another song sung in Portuguese. It's a very nice song, it's very folky, I liked it.

I liked this album very much, altough, there were 2 or 3 songs that I really didn't like, they were boring, very boring. On the other hand, songs like Lua D'Inverno, Vampiria or Alma Mater really made this album worth the listen! I really enjoyed reviewing this one, and I hope you give this band a chance! I'm not sure if I should give it 3 or 4 stars, because it's not Excelent, but it's more than good! But I'm thinking more about giving it 4 stars.