Moonspell "Hermitage" (2021)

 

Imagine my excitement, the triumphant roar of Jumalten Aika still gnawing at the back of my mind, a new Moonsorrow record on the horizon, I was buzzing! I jumped at this album when my aggregator informed me of its release. A slight problem however, the service confused the two moons and so I have brought this twelfth release from Portuguese Moonspell. To rub salt in the wound, this same confusion actually transpired a couple years back. I really need to fix my subscription list...

Unlike 1755, Hermitage has been a fumble to engage with. Its bland foray of lightly tinged Doom and Gothic Metal tonality is often steered in a Progressive Rock direction, attempting to revive ideas of the greats and rarely amounting to much in the progress. Singer Ribeiro is often off-key, a constant thorn in the sides, hurtling his rough manly shouts, he rubs against the melodic cohesion off his band mates.

The instrumentals behind him are decent at times but the music tends to meander. Swells of metallic aggression that brood are often weak and loose on arrival, at least within this brittle production which fails in giving oomph and power to its instruments. Songs slowly ponder through many quiet and meager passageways. Its calming and composed but lacking much in the way of excitement. When those big guitars erupt, the momentum is often left hinging on an unappealing distortion aesthetic.

The occasional inclusion of classic psychedelic synth sounds spark some curiosity but tend to add their own appeal as opposed to gelling with the rest of the music. All in all its a hard record to compliment that offers no reason to come back. Besides my gripe with the vocals, nothing is particularly tragic or offensive, just unreasonably mediocre and drab. Anyway I have learned my lesson, removing this band from my list at once!

Rating: 4/10

Moonspell "1755" (2017)

The blunder is real, as you can imagine I was filled to the brim with excitement when I caught wind of a new album from Moonspell. Id never heard the Portuguese Gothic Metal outfit before and upon my first listen to 1755 I found myself thinking "this doesn't sound like them". Well that's because I made the catastrophic error of confusing them with Moonsorrow who's last record was a true gem, one to remember, unfortunately I had trouble remembering their name and so we embark on an expected journey with another band also inspired by the moon!

Getting past the initial "This wasn't what I wanted" phase, a strong record is to be found here. Drawing from symphonic, orchestral and fantasy influences Moonspell craft an inviting breed of Metal tinged with Gothic, Doom, Heavy and even Black varieties that never goes to strongly in any direction. Its compositions are heavily involved with the keyboards which elevate otherwise mediocre arrangements of riffs to cinematic, adventurous levels. The snarling beastly scream of front man Ribeiro cuts through with a commanders presence, steering the ship. Unfortunately his impact is muted by the language barrier, the lyrics could of made better sense of lively symphonies which create quite the sense of unfolding events. Given the name of the album I can't help but feel It may be about the earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands of people in Portugal's capitol, Lisborn.

The record plays with varying intensities and tempos, never a dull moment as its rich tapestry of strings, keys, distortion guitars and vocals forge imaginative songs but as the record comes to an end its best is in store, the closing "Lanterna Dos Afogados" elevates the record a deep and brooding passage of music in its build up, moving from a whispering voice over a soft piano into a dense wash of sorrowful instruments mourning in harmony. The back and forth between these halves culminates with an exotic guitar solo and then the song is plunged into a passing of darkness it recovers from with the returning theme drenched in thick organs and gothic male choirs. A very memorable, satisfying song from a decent record with little to fault.

Favorite Track: Lanterna Dos Afogados

Rating: 6/10