Moonspell – Hermitage
Napalm Records
8,5/10,0
Brief:
MOONSPELL is approaching their 30th anniversary as a band more ambitiously and stronger than ever. Hermitage – the gothic metal pioneers‘13th studio album – was recorded, mixed and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost, Primordial, Ghost, Sólstafir & many more) at the Orgone Studios in the UK. Building upon the album’s dark, revolutionary and sensitive facets, it’s an entertaining yet epic journey through the darkest days of human existence. Beautifully crafted tracks such as “The Greater Good“ show us the modernity of the wolves in 2021, while “Common Prayers“ embraces the MOONSPELL tradition of writing a dark, gothic metal song like no other band can. “All Or Nothing“ brings back the ethereal and melodic sounds of MOONSPELL, served by a beautiful musical landscape, making it most likely one of the deepest and most sincerely heart-breaking tunes the Portuguese dark metal titans have ever written. But of course, they don‘t stray away from their metal roots, especially influenced by underground metal bands like Bathory on tracks like the bombastic and epic metal anthem “Hermit Saints“!
Hermitage is a revolutionary, wonderfully intuitive and epic journey by one of the most distinctive dark metal bands of all time, and a testament to what they’ve always loved the most: Honest, emotional metal that binds us even in the darkest times.
Tracklist:
01 – The Greater Good
02 – Common Prayers
03 – All or Nothing
04 – Hermitage
05 – Entitlement
06 – Solitarian
07 – The Hermit Saints
08 – Apoptheghmata
09 – Without Rule
10 – City Quitter (Outro)
Main Focus Tracks:
02 – Common Prayers
04 – Hermitage
07 – The Hermit Saints
Other Recommended Tracks:
03 – All or Nothing
05 – Entitlement
08 – Apoptheghmata
Line-Up:
Fernando Ribeiro – Vocals
Ricardo Amorim – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Pedro Paixão – Keys, Guitar
Aires Pereira – Bass
Hugo Ribeiro – Drums
Comments:
This is still a highly enjoyable album, but it isn’t the masterpiece I was hoping for. Hermitage is wonderfully executed!
Contact:
Moonspell
Videos:
Selected Discography:
Wolfheart (1995)
Irreligious (1996)
Sin/Pecado (1998)
The Butterfly Effect (1999)
Darkness and Hope (2001)
The Antidote (2003)
Memorial (2006)
Under Satanæ (2007)
Night Eternal (2008)
Alpha Noir/Omega White (2012)
Extinct (2015)
1755 (2017)
Hermitage (2021)