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Moonspell - Extinct

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    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Moonspell - Extinct



    Moonspell - Extinct
    Released by: Napalm Records
    Released on: March 17th, 2015.
    Purchase From Amazon

    Moonspell, who hail from Portugal, have been around a long time. They formed in 1992 (though an earlier incarnation under the name Morbid God actually dates back to 1989) and are now set to release their tenth studio album. They've paid their dues and earned their fan base and they've also pretty much perfectly honed their trademark sound, which at this point is sort of a mix between the gothic super silliness of Type-O-Negative and the theatricality of something like Cradle Of Filth. Which is interesting, because the one and only time I saw them play live was on a bill with those two bands. I remember at the time, never having heard of them, thinking that the band was hilarious - lead vocalist and founding member Fernando Ribeiro strutted about no stage with a big staff in his hand. There was a skull on top of the staff and at one point he told the crowd 'this song goes out to all the vampyres in the house.' He didn't say vampires, he said vampyres, and I giggled, because neither vampires nor vampyres are real no matter how badly some people might want them to be.

    To dismiss Moonspell as a bunch of goofy Portuguese goth metal guys wouldn't be entirely fair, however, because the more time you spend listening to them the more you realize that these guys are seriously talented musicians. Yes, the theatrics are part of the experience and yes, it is still silly to dedicate songs to vampyres no matter what the girl behind the counter at Hot Topic tells you, but Moonspell can and do kick a whole lot of ass.

    Breathe (Until We Are No More) opens the album as Ribeiro croons over top of some noodling guitar work courtesy of Ricardo Amorim but shortly after this, the drums and bass combo provided by Miguel Gaspar and Aires Pereira opens up and blasts away and Pedro Paixí£o's keyboards build nicely in the background. This one sounds a bit like The Real Thing era Faith No More, but with a darker tone. Lots of fast/slow/stop/start action here with the vocals serving as the only real constant.

    From there we head into the title track, which is faster and a bit thrashier with the guitars having a little more crunch to them, softened a bit by those keyboards. It's a catchy song, a nice balance of melody and gallopy metal trappings. Medusalem starts off with some Middle Eastern style chanting but then quickly heads straight into fairly standard Moonspell territory, at times channeling Rammstein. Nice vocals on the chorus from Ribeiro make this one stand out quite nicely, actually. Track four, that'd be Domina, is more of a mid-tempo track, it's a bit more relaxed. Calm, even. Definitely has a goth vibe going on and yes, that is an acoustic guitar you'll here in the bridge. The Last Of Us, marking the half way point on the record, brings things back into goth-metal territory, putting the guitars upfront alongside Ribeiro's fantastic voice. It has a sort of dreamy feel to it, it's not as dark or as heavy as you'd expect, but it when he sings out 'my curse is to love you' damn it, you know he's singing the truth! This is an oddly romantic song but it works.



    Malignia has a neat keyboard intro that makes you think maybe this is a Depeche Mode song for a second, but then the guitars come in and the choral background vocals swell up and you start to think, shit, I don't see Dave Gahan here, this is spooky. Riberio gets way more aggressive here, ranting about being turned into stone and THEN being turned into dust. That would suck. Funeral Bloom is straight up Sisters Of Mercy sounding when it starts off and it kind of stays that way through most of the track, actually. Which is fine. The Sisters Of Mercy were pretty cool. I remember going to goth night at the vampire bar (not the vampyre bar) in Toronto and getting drunk and dancing to The Sisters Of Mercy all the time. Good times. This song makes me think of those carefree days but then it makes me think I'm getting old so I get sad. Which leads nicely into A Dying Breed, those somber keyboards sort of making you feel like you're flying when it starts, but then, KABOOM! Riberio starts to sing and… huh. This is kind of a pop song. It's darker than most pop music but if you listen to the medley and ignore the fact that Riberio grunts out the chorus, it's a catchy little ditty. You could definitely dance to this at the goth bar you went to when you were in college. The Future Is Dark is the penultimate track on the album and it starts off with what is essentially a dance beat. That's not so good, then you get some weird plinky guitar over top of the drums and the synths kick in and it's all very mellow and almost pretty but… it surprisingly stays that way. This is some sort of sad goth metal ballad or something and it didn't do much for me. Thankfully the tenth and final track on the album, La Baphomette, takes us back to 'evil stuff' territory. You wouldn't know it from the tinkling of the piano that starts things off, but it's pretty evil. It's kind of like Riberio is channeling Serge Gainsbourg here. No, seriously, this is dark jazz or something. It's weird.

    And weird kind of sums up Moonspell nicely. They mix things up a lot here and more often than not, it works. The production is glossy and slick and sometimes a bit overdone but the playing is rock solid and Ribeiro's voice really seals the deal. As goofy as these guys get sometimes, that guy has got a fantastic voice and he knows how to use it. Paint your nails black, smoke a clove cigarette and give this a spin. At the very least all the vampyres in your house will appreciate it.

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