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Rating: The Butterfly Effect did not appeal to me: okay, yes, the experimentation... let's allow the electronics, but the ideas (although good) were confused; the theory of chaos became the practice of mess. If handled better, it would have been a masterpiece, and they would once again be pioneers in the gothic field.
I was curious to know if after that misstep (also a disaster in terms of sales) our valiant heroes would manage to uphold the honor of gothic (it is neither doom nor black, that's for sure) especially because they themselves had brought a breath of fresh air starting with the MCD "Under the Moonspell" from 1994.
Darkness and Hope, this is the title of an album with such a difficult task. Surely, however, it was worth producing, yes, because although it is not a masterpiece, it reminds me of their true nature.
The cover is splendid even if concise, and the booklet is complete with all the lyrics and images suitable for the different tracks.
With this premise, let's move on to the album. The title track opens the door for us, a typically super-dark gothic track, perhaps unusual as a beginning but extremely pleasant. It is followed by the short Firewalking, also in the Moonspell style and which - like Nocturna and Made of Storm - harkens back to the masterpieces of the past. Heartshaped Abyss is also enjoyable, which, while not transcendental, is easy to listen to and does well. Ghostsong and How We Became Fire are nice easy-listening episodes, but they represent the lowest point of the album.
I would like to dwell a little more on Made of Storm: stunning, it makes me think back to the times of Opium (tear), although... "she doesn't know she's fucking with the lord of lies"!
The rest is interesting (Devilred, also dark, Rapaces very direct and Than the Serpents in My Hand with its gloomy progression but not like the others). The album closes with a cover of Madredeus, "Os senhores da guerra" in a gothic version!!! (Incredible, I couldn't believe it...). Anyway, the original is beautiful and so is this "variation" by Ribeiro, who in this album shows all his vocal talent, alternating growl with a warm and dark voice. Indispensable!
In short, definitely better than the previous Sin/Pecado and the aforementioned The Butterfly Effect, although it's not up to the glories of the past (and at this point, I doubt they will succeed, just listen to the latest The Antidote) but it contains some truly remarkable moments. I would like to give it 7/10, but there are no half points, so I'll round up, for the humility with which they approached this work and because there are two bonus video tracks: Magdalene from Sin/Pecado (nice) and Butterfly FX (my favorite song from TBE; the video is also very good).
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Darkness and Hope (04:46)
So this is
the exemplar deathstyle
you told me about;
you want my seed in
is this the treason
I bare the fame from?
my fatal freedom;
the omniswansong
I carry the news of Darkness and hope
So this is
the underworld
you have in your heart;
you hide in your room
I'm so sorry to say
it only makes me laugh
I carry the news of Darkness and hope
So here I have-your act of love
within the poison-of your every word
each night you stay in-each night I will have to run
knowing from darkness and hope
there is no return.
I carry the news of darkness and hope.
02 Firewalking (03:05)
Help me fall from grace
Need you to be incomplete
I am the impostor at your feet
Is it your first time
Or have you been tempted before
Downward into the pulsing life
Laying below
Try firewalking inside of me
when everything falls apart
Try firewalking inside of me
When everything falls apart
Won't you fall from grace
I am at a wingbeat
from my retreat
Is it your first time or have you been tempted before
Downward the pulsing secret
Laying below
Try firewalking inside of me
when everything falls apart
Try firewalking inside of me
when everything else falls apart
03 Nocturna (03:52)
High heels of crystal
stuck in the heart
daylight that heals
the fullmoon scars
Spider strategy
and the wish to be
at one with me
throughout the fright
It is so real
So full of light
(when)Nocturna steals the night
Sister of cain
all our breed slain
the youthful oath
remains the same
le mal de vivre
that never ends
but the hunt (for you) goes on
throughout the night
It is so real
So full of light
(when) Nocturna steals the night
04 Heartshaped Abyss (04:08)
Never resist
The firewalker
He has been sent
To educate you
never look back
at the great Deep
and never dance to
that curse he sings
Never resist
The life long Pessimist
he is the leader
and not the enemy
My heart complete
put to destroy you
my darkness is obsolete
please let me follow you
And when we meet there
Into the Heartshaped abyss
you'll scar me with your kiss
and when we meet there
into the heartshaped abyss
you'll forgive me everything
scared away
get away
Never resist the firewalker
he has been sent to lay a curse on you
never resist,never look back
Liar I am ready to push you
And when we meet there
Into the Heartshaped abyss
you'll scar me with your kiss
and when we meet there
into the heartshaped abyss
you'll forgive me everything
scared away
get away
Let's get away from this world
to a place we are still beautiful
Abismo..., em forma de coração
05 Devilred (03:25)
She wears devilRed
she sweats the poison
-all over her
keeps me quiet
-inside her storm
she has the method
-no other knows
red as the veins,she likes to swim in
floating so gently,through this human misery
She must be a part
Of a Highest Plan
Something I can't understand
she wears devilRed
She's selling a damned soul
To whoever pays the most
Her body-the cure
for all evil and good
red as the veins
she likes to swim in
floating so gently
through this human misery
She must be a part
Of the Highest Plan
Something I can't understand
she wears devilRed
devilred
06 Ghostsong (04:21)
Outside the mythic Rains
let us know we are not insane
Blood debts still to be paid
(Instead) We celebrate the Stranger
Inside the mythic Pains
are played
Blood doubts are asked again
Beware the Answers - you cannot tame
(Might) Take you too far away
Say what you are
Come here to haunt you
Say what you will
I am going to haunt you
And protect you
I am going to hurt you
And if we survive this Dawn
We wish we'd see the Day
Die to come back a Single-Time
That face in the window
Is never the same
Say what you are
Come here to haunt you
Say what you will
I am going to haunt you
And protect you
I am going to hurt you
08 Made of Storm (04:09)
I am the flood
who drags the dirt
and lives on it
survives through it
She is the soil
with whom I flirt
and rots with it
I am the flood
who purifies
I guess she calls Me
the Lord of Lies
when I'm inside her
feels like she is
made of Storm
I am the flood
who likes the dirt
and sleeps with it
and dreams with it
she is the soil
with whom I flirt
she rots within
I am the flood
who purifies
She does not know
she's fucking with
the Lord of Lies
when I'm inside her
feels like she is
made of Storm
10 Than the Serpents in My Arms (05:53)
"Dorme, dorme meu menino!
Dorme - no mar dos sargacos;
Que mais vale o mar a pino
Que as Serpentes nos meus bracos!"
MÁRIO CESÁRINY
And when all Life as you know it - Fails
All ghostlike lips taste just the - same
What better comfort can you find
Than the Serpents in my Arms
Sleep, sleep - now, my Child
In the Sea of crystal Trouble
For better is the violent Sight
than all that you leave behind
In your Eyes - a Dark so subtile
It tells you walk, but never fly
To leave us all behind
And when all Life as you know it - Fails
All ghostlike Lips taste just the - same
What better comfort can you find
Than the Serpents in my Arms
Down, down - terrible Child
To look at It, it is a Sin
For better is to hold that Smile
That´s all you leave behind
In your Eyes - a Mark so subtile
It tells you walk, but never fly
Never fly - to leave us all
To leave us all behind
And when all Life as you know it - fails
All ghostlike Lips taste just the......same
What better comfort can you find
Than the Serpents in my Arms
What better comfort can you find
than
The Serpents
In my Arms
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Other reviews
By +Zephyro+
Darkness and Hope presents itself to the listener as a raw, stony poetry, naked, cold.
Nocturna is the jewel of the album: a cold and cruel lyric offered to Lilith, Queen of the Night.
By _Ozzy
This album, sadly, marks the end of my relationship with Moonspell.
Fernando Ribeiro, always the true star, is undeniably the focus of the album and it hurts to hear him sing bland and senseless melodies.
