MOONSPELL „“Night Eternal””

Music: Gothic Black Metal
Country: Portugal
Web site: www.moonspell.com
Cool Songs: Scorpion Flower, Moon in Mercury, Dreamless (Lucifer and Lilith)

In the early 1990s, MOONSPELL released a number of splits, demos and EPS through small labels, eventually leading to their signing to Century Media. Their first two full-lengths under said label, “Wolfheart” and “Irreligious” helped not only establish the group as one of the premier gothic metal bands in the world, but provided crucial releases for the then-fledgling Century Media. MOONSPELL experimented on their next two albums, “Sin/Pecado” and “The Butterfly Effect,” removing the black metal and folk elements that characterized their early releases for a mere goth rock sound. These experiments showed them lose their edge. Starting with “Darkness and Hope” (2001) the group reintroduced the black metal facets. MOONSPELL continues to expound on this gothic/atmospheric/black metal sound on their second original studio album on SPV, “Night Eternal.”

A clarification of “Night Eternal” being an original album released through SPV should be made because last year they released “Under Satanae,” which was a rerecording of all their pre-“Wolfheart” material. The rerecording seemed appropriate considering their return to extreme territories. “Night Eternal” features most of the traits exhibited on their early ‘90s output: dark, keyboard-embedded atmospheres, harsh vocals and a slant toward black metal. The black metal features are made more important and dynamic through the tempering of beautiful melodies and fantastic ambience.

‘Tragic Heights’ and the title track open the album in an exemplifying fashion. The first track begins with the faint pound of kettle drums, dramatic keys and alluring siren vocals, courtesy of Carmen Susana Simőes of the Portuguese doom band, AVA INFERI. These atmospheres continue throughout the track, but in full force, and with Fernando Ribeiro’s black vocal renderings and Pedro Paixăo’s chugging guitar. The title track features an array of keyboard-generated sounds including a bell and enchanting keys. During the choral parts, the keys take a spooky turn, while Fernando follows the key’s rising movement by pushing his savage voice to new heights. Pedro Paixăo’s guitars closely follow Mike Gaspar’s slick drum fills on the post-chorus break, adding another dimension of heaviness to this track.

While the album maintains its atmosphere throughout, some tracks show the group slow down and Ribeiro abandon his harsh-vocal persona. One such track is 'Scorpion Flower.' Here, Ribeiro reveals his heavily-accented, romantic goth voice. Simőes combines her angelic voice with Ribeiro for a highly dynamic chorus. The vocal performances on “Night Eternal” are some of the band’s best. MOONSPELL aptly utilizes its array of male and female vocals. Whether he is using piercing black metal vocals, vampiric goth vocals or lycanthropic growls (see ‘Moon in Mercury’), Ribeiro sounds as good as ever, even after a near-twenty-year career.

“Night Eternal” is a solid album. It may take a few listens to truly appreciate the group’s multi-tiered layers and to feel the full effect of the atmospheres produced by these layers. Even though “Night Eternal” is a strong album, compared to their “Under Satane” material—which came out just a few months ago—there are a few flaws. One flaw is the guitars. The riffs on their earlier material were much catchier, and while folk elements aren’t crucial to their sound, those elements definitely enhanced their earlier material. All in all, though, “Night Eternal” should be a welcome release by the fans of the “Wolfheart” and “Irreligious” days.

note: 7.5/10

Tracklist

. At Tragic Heights
2. Night Eternal
3. Shadow Sun
4. Scorpion Flower
5. Moon In Mercury
6. Hers Is The Twilight
7. Dreamless (Lucifer And Lilith)
8. Spring of Rage
9. First Light
Total Playing Time: 44:15

Line-up

Fernando Ribeiro-Vocals
Mike Gaspar-Drums
Pedro Paixăo-Guitars/Keys
Ricardo Amorim-Guitar/Keys