Moonspell - Hermitage Review

In my mind there’s no other band than Moonspell that captured and translated into Metal so perfectly the Portuguese soul. The sorrow and nostalgia are so present in their work that is possible for the fan to feel them in each track of album. Fernando Ribeiro and his fold were able to translate into Metal language all the feelings underneath the thick peel of the people of this once upon a time great nation. “Hermitage” has one feet in the glorious past of the band and the other in its future. This balance of past and future results in a present where Moonspell are undoubtely one of the most relevant bands of the scene. This mix of past and future is well represented in “Without Rule” with its Pink Floyd “The Wall” era feeling with some 1960s keyboarding mixed with some death growls vocals. Here and there the fan will notice a flaming guitar bursting all the way.

The mood Moonspell create in “Hermitage” is something pretty unique. It’s fair to say that the fan may recognize the band in the first seconds of a song. This happens with “City Quitter (Outro)” a track that delivers everything the band has got. “All or Nothing” is another song that goes in a gloomy and dark cadence when suddenly a flaming guitar solo bursts out of the blue setting fire all around. Pretty much the Moonspell way and soul. I don’t if the band agrees, but I see lots of Pink Floyd “Animals” era in here. Well, guitar solos are pretty much David Gilmour, if you ask me. It’s not outrageous at all to say that Moonspell deliver a lot of Pink Floyd influences in their music. The powerful and, at the same time, delicate arrangement added with lots of melancholy of “Solitarian” make the fan wish the album were never over. This melancholy the fan feels in tracks as “Entitlement” says a lot about the band and where they are from. It’s the ingredient that makes Moonspell what they are. Without it there would be no Moospell.

To listen to Moonspell bring to me a lot of remembrances from a time when a very good friend was with us. The soul, the emotion, the melancholy they pass to the fan is something unique. I guess there is no band that can do it better. fun fact is that we have never talked about them. Nor heard their musci together as we used to do. Pitty.

If you want the music of unique band here you’ve got Moonspell, the most Portuguese band of all. And they sing in English.

Moonspell “Hermitage” will be released on February 26th via Napalm Records.

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