Unavoidable, when referring to the Portuguese metal scene, somber goth-is melodramatic Moonspell is the top-notch exponents of an entire country, or at least, the foremost recognizable act arising from my country in the past decade, alongside with the doom gothic eloquence of Heavenwood, and the insanely fresh and brutalization of Holocausto Canibal.
The sonority surrounding their long-standing career has metamorphosed throughout the years, resounding the earlier days of Norwegian black metal with Portuguese folklorish overtones on their debut EP entitled ‘Under Satanae’ in mid 1994 – which I managed to obtain a signed copy – and a more doomy approach on their ‘Wolfheart’ magnificently 1995 release, while later on trying out some electronic vibe in what was believed to be their hardest to digest releases, obviously I am talking about their ‘Irrelegious’ album released in 1996 and ‘Sin/Pecado’ from 1998, albums which transpired a more relaxed Moonspell, often sounding closer enough to Tiamat’s ‘Wildhoney’.
Although this vicious circle of evolution and devolution continues to date, their singular and personal sound still perpetuates, seen Moonspell merging into a retrospective and straightforward approach within their darkened musical abstractions and experiments, lately in 2001, whence the band present us with ‘Darkness And Hope’, 2006’s ‘Memorial’ and most recently in mid 2012, the double studio record ‘Alpha Noir/Omega White’, released by infamous Napalm Records, which marked the broken up partnership with their long supporters Century Media Records.
Moonspell is currently embarking on a European tour, imprinting their highly envenomed melancholy throughout their disciples’ hearts after some bittersweet mid-pause regarding touring;
[blockquote cite=”Fernando Ribeiro”]We are thrilled to announce to all the Moonspell fans out there that we’ll be touring together with our brothers in Septicflesh. In doing so, we’ll be supporting our upcoming brand-new album ‘Extinct’, an emotional, existential journey reflecting on the hour of man’s passing away and the prospect of no return. A very dark yet soulful album with some of the most heartfelt songs we’ve ever written. We’re excited about sharing this original darkness with you soon![/blockquote]
The Lusitanian mephistos will be accompanied by Greek daemons Septicflesh, who have released their colossal new studio record entitled ‘Titan’ in June, impressively imposing their sovereignty over an occult, dark operatic yet theatrical symphonic death metal inception, created in the dawn of their early days’ and still, remarkable.
As for my Portuguese comrades in arms, I wish them all the best “under the Moonspell”! “Por isso tomo ópio, é um remédio. Sou um convalescente do momento. Moro no rés do chão do pensamento e ver passar a vida faz-me tédio.”
