The Bottom Line
Blackened goth metal from Portugal.
Pros
- Dark and heavy goth metal.
Cons
- If you prefer melodic vocals you might not like this as much as their previous efforts.
Description
- Released in North America April 25, 2006 on SPV Records.
- Produced by Waldemar Sorychta (Lacuna Coil).
- This is the band's seventh full-length release.
Guide Review - Moonspell - Memorial
The long running Portugese goth metal band Moonspell gets a little darker and more aggressive on their latest release. The music is very gothic with densely layered keyboards and synthesizers. There are symphonic black metal influences and the whole album has a very dark atmosphere and vibe.
Vocally, Fernando Ribeiro spends most of the album utilizing a death metal style aggressive howl. He does some gothic melodic singing as well, but the vast majority of the vocals are aggressive. Lyrically he draws from a wide variety of literary influences including Portugese history, Oscar Wilde, Poe and Goethe.
It's such a reviewer's cliche, but this is one of those albums that really does get better with each listen. There is so much going on and so many layers in each song that it takes a while to absorb it all.
