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| Moonspell |
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Moonspell: Portugese Gothic-Metal band formed in
1989. Released their full-length debut album in 1995 on Century
Media. Line-up: - Fernando Ribeiro (vocals) - Ricardo Amorim (guitars) - Pedro Paixão (keyboards/programming) - Sérgio Crestana (bass) - Mike Gaspar (drums).
 ¼ 1995:
Wolfheart "Wolfheart is a story of love and death, vampires and werewolves with erotic and passionate lyrics that bridges the two worlds of goth and metal. This is definitely the best achievement from the Portuguese band and a very unique album indeed with music different than any other band. Beautiful keyboard passages swirl their way across oceans of thick guitar riffs and the music is wonderfully melodic and catchy. There is a little bit of everything in here - death metal, black metal, Portuguese folk tunes, female vocals by the band´s vocal coach Birgit Zacher and lots more. The vocals are very diverse with great melodies, sometimes growled, sometimes spoken but mostly half-clean with a nice Portuguese accent and rolling r's".
-- Vincent Eldefors, tartareandesire.com
1996: Irreligious just click here! to send us your review of this album 1998: Sin/Pecado just click here! to send us your review of this album 1999: Butterfly Effect "... to this day, I have failed to get much enjoyment out of the 'Butterfly Effect'. The mediocrity of the first two cuts (Soulsick, Butterfly FX) is alarming. Where's the Wolfshade (A Werewolf Masquerade), the Love Crimes, the Opium, the Handmade God, or the 2econd Skin to pull you in right from the start? Sadly, they are not there. Things get better with Can't Bee but return to mediocrity with the uninspired Lustmord. There's just too much industrial experimentation on this album - great if you can pull it off, but Moonspell clearly can't. I guess I am the Eternal Spectator is not a bad effort at industrial metal - I rather enjoy it - but most of the industrial-tinged songs just don't make the cut. There are several good songs here - Disappear Here bizarrely recalls The Cult which is cool. Adaptables has a nice groove going in the background. So, there are songs here for the Moonspell faithful, just don't expect to be pulling out this album to listen to as often as the 3 that came before it. All in all, a major disappointment."
-- James F. Colobus, amazon reviewer, 5/02
2001:
Darkness and Hope"The title of the new album pretty much sums up my current views on the band. I really loved their 'Wolfheart' album with all the beautiful melodies and traditional elements but all of their subsequent releases have so far been one single boring aftermath. With each new effort I have hoped incessantly for a new creative blast from them but to no avail. My views are about the same after listening to 'Darkness And Hope'. The dull but still thick sound walls of before are still there, making Moonspell sound like a cheap Creed wannabe. A few pale traces from old golden days can be heard on tracks like Devilred and Rapaces but altogether their new album is still lightyears away from the quality music they were once able to compose. I have nothing against an album being immersed in a sea of melancholy and erotica but there has got to be more than one or two noteworthy metal riffs to make it real interesting."
-- Vincent Eldefors, tartareandesire.com
½ 2003:
The Antidote
"We heard Moonspell before 'The Antidote', but we were never impressed as we are today. This sixth release is the rise above all men to the dark ecstasies of gothic rock. The title Everything Invaded depicts the new picture with the force of the metal instruments and the provoking voice of Fernando Ribiero felt From Lowering Skies towards the Lunar Still. There is less keyboards and more guitars on this album. One can easily compare 'The Antidote' with the sound of the Fields of the Nephilim, using percussions stronger than the Garden of Delight. Some countries are blessed with the extra track The Darkening, a song painted by the style of Sisters of Mercy. Other great songs are Capricorn at Her Feet and The Southern Deathstyle."
-- Wissam Yaacoub, for musicfolio.com, 12/03
½ 2006:
MemorialTracklisting: 01. In Memoriam 02. Finisterra 03. Memento Mori 04. Sons Of Earth 05. Blood Tells 06. Upon The Blood Of Men 07. At The Image Of Pain 08. Sanguine 09. Proliferation 10. Once It Was Ours! 11. Mare Nostrum 12. Luna 13. Best Forgotten "The premier Portuguese metal / gothic metal band, mostly known for 'Wolfheart' and 'Irreligious', went through a period of experimentation in the late 90s with electronics ('Sin/Pecado' and 'The Butterfly Effect'), before returning to a mostly gothic metal sound in 'Of Darkness and Hope') and then retreating to a gothic/death/black metal refuge, not seen in the band until their early EP days, like 1994's 'Under the Moonspell'. 'Memorial' takes this trend further. Fernando (the vocalist) very rarely sings cleanly anymore. Most of the album is composed of mid tempo death/black outbursts, set upon a gothic backdrop. The album is very reminiscent in style to ROTTING CHRIST's seminal 'Sleep of the Angels' - with the difference that there are even less clean vocals here. This picture is broken only by two tracks: Proliferation, which sounds like a JUNO REACTOR track from The Matrix Reloaded Soundtrack, and Luna, which sounds like an outtake from 'Sin/Pecado'. But the problem with this album is that the compositions are very uninteresting. With Moonspell recycling 'Under the Moonspell' with few hints of the later progresses they made, 'Memorial' is a collection of mediocre compositions and rehashed atmospheres, with an angry Fernando screaming on top."
-- Stefanos Zachariadis, metal-invader.com, 3/06
2008: Night Eternal Tracklisting: 01. At Tragic Heights 02. Night Eternal 03. Shadow Sun 04. Scorpion Flower 05. Moon in Mercury 06. Hers is the Twilight 07. Dreamless (Lucifer And Lilith) 08. Spring of Rage 09. First Light Release date: May 9, 2008 (Europe) - June 10, 2008 (US) |
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