•
Rating: Many have praised this "Memorial" by Moonspell, even making unlikely comparisons with the band's first two albums "Wolfheart" and "Irreligious," which, in the opinion of this writer, remain absolutely unmatched.
Honestly, I find no point of contact with the albums mentioned. This "Memorial" could be a good black metal album, but it is urgent not to compare it with two albums (especially 'Wolfheart') that made the history of 90s gothic metal. The most striking negative aspect is Fernando Ribeiro's voice. I find the comparison made by many music critics who have praised the singer for a supposed return to the depth of the early works' vocals to be decidedly wrong. Nothing could be more misleading. In this "Memorial," Ribeiro primarily uses growl singing, which may indeed be the most glaring weakness of Moonspell's latest effort.
Growl, to be clear, was also present in the first two albums, but to a much lesser degree, much less accentuated and alternated with more, so to speak, relaxed parts where the frontman's voice reached its maximum beauty and depth. A depth which, in my opinion, cannot be found in even the slightest trace in "Memorial".
Musically, the situation is not without criticism either. The songs tend to all sound alike, partly due to Ribeiro's monotone and repetitive singing. We are faced with songs utterly devoid of the epic and gothic atmospheres of their beginnings. Even the characteristic that made me appreciate them in "Wolfheart" (considered by fans and critics to be one of the indisputable masterpieces of the genre), which, in my opinion, differentiated them from other bands dedicated to the same genre, namely the blend of gothic elements, thus cold, and ethnic, warmer elements, is a distant memory.
This too has led Moonspell to constantly regress over time until they arrived at today's, in my opinion, mediocre "Memorial," which unfortunately represents one of the most evident current examples of the decay that gothic in metal is undergoing.
After all, there must be a reason if at the end of listening to the album, none of the 13 tracks that comprise it remain in my mind, a fact perhaps also due to the heaviness (understood as the difficulty of absorbing the listening) that it caused me. Perhaps only “Finisterra” is enjoyable, but that's about it.
In conclusion, I have nothing left to say except that the path Moonspell has taken towards an increasingly pronounced black metal does not convince me at all, and I much prefer bands like 'Katatonia,' who have evolved towards a form of gothic rock contaminated by Toolian influences, or 'The Gathering,' who, with their latest "Home," have settled on very relaxed psychedelic gothic pop sounds.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Finisterra (04:08)
the world has turned once more inside
brought up a message from our dead:
the ones you love the most
are the ones you hurt as deep
the world has turned once more inside
anchored into captivity
the ones you wanted the most
the ones you buried under sea
exit wounds, waterdrums, dream the eternal return
tree of life rotting inside, autumn leaves, winter white
a light at the end of the world
whole world a ghost shading inside
true love waits for the bless of death
the doubt that sets me free
not to remember anything
stillborn, bloodlet, die in our feet like the trees
earthsong, neverland, let the blood have its way
a light at the end of the world
was it for this we sold our souls?
was it for this we missed our chance of leaving?
(for) a lie at the end of the world
03 Memento Mori (04:27)
I am the moment, the soul
the moment that ends it all
I am the second, the will
the serpent, the one you last recall
the living pulse of nightmares
is on my side
with the shadows I fade into you
a secret promise of leaving
blanking your eyes
when you look for me try for once inside
in the sleep of cruelty
the old sounds of you and me
I am the moment, the soul
the moment that ends it all
I am the second, the will
the serpent, the one you last recall (you are lost)
the ones so long forgotten
now at your side
their spirits travel from me into you
a rush of waters then afterlife
the wind in the trees
yours is the fight in this minute dark
I am the moment, the soul
the moment that ends it all
I am the second, the will
the serpent, the one you last...
in the sleep of cruelty
the old sounds of you in me
and for a moment it's gone
the beauty of it all
I am the second, the fall
the logic of it all
I am the moment, the soul
the moment that ends it all
I am the second, the will
the serpent, the one you last recall
memento mori!
05 Blood Tells (04:08)
in my blood you reached this far
in my soul you found this much
the circles of hell on earth
travelled together times upon times
when you have lived this cruel
and emptied the veins once full
bloodlines of life going back in your hands
bloodlines of life in return to the past
blood tells. memorial.
now you have gone too far
now you have found too much
the circles of blood completed
as it was once for the last
now we have lived this full
still we have nothing at all
from the line of the life we fall
in the shifting sands of the heart
blood tells. memorial.
to put together the words,
to bring together our worlds
to be together the curse,
to live together our horrors
now we have lived this full
always we had nothing to prove!
what the soul hides, blood tells!
now we have lived this full
to you we have nothing to prove!
what the soul hides, blood tells!
memorial.
07 At the Image of Pain (04:21)
Man confirmed by the carnal
Like a damnation supreme
Man you are bound to this world and this blood
Raise hands to the wonders
In honour of you
Man condemned again
Created at the image of pain
Beast conceived in the spirit
Such is your instinct supreme
Prince in all of this world and beyond
Blood oaths to the solemn
In return to you
Man condemned again
Created at the image of pain
"A prince must possess both nature of beast and man"
(Can you feet? It is real...)
Man condemned again
Fallen at the image
Man condemned again of pain
I am the son of the earth
Pain!
08 Sanguine (05:50)
find me with the howling
in the night i will be waiting under
remember how cold the touch
when you fall with another
approaching the eternal day
the everlasting nothing between us
the everlasting nothing around us
returning in your other shape
at midnight the failing wonder
remember there can be only one
we the trophy of each other
sanguine- your love comes to me in oceans of blood
find me with the howling
in the night I am going under
remember how cold the touch
you have fallen with another
leave me by the fading
silenced in the trust
remember how cold the truth
when we breed one another
sanguine- your love comes to me in oceans of blood
the everlasting ignorance around us, forever living sickness inside us,
the silence still not finished with us, the madness breeding when we do.
for you I will cut my veins open and let you hide on them
for you I will cut my veins open, let you live freely on them
sanguine- your love comes to me in oceans of blood
10 Once It Was Ours! (04:53)
Vanishing act inside the weak
In need of you and all what's real
Spirited into our lost ways
In solitudes to follow
Across the land departed on sea
We will be living our last days
Remember!
Once it was ours
We have waited forever
We are to blame
For once it was ours
We are a revolution strong inside the weak
The anguish of the all to be
Lost forever into your unique ways
In telling blood decisions stay
Keep the light strong for me!
My darkest hour ahead it lays
Remember!
Once it was ours
We have waited forever
We are to blame
For once it was ours
It's a resolution! Our destination shall be ours again
It's a resolution! And it's coming our way...
Remember!
All that you see
Could ever feel
Once it was final
Once it was all...
Remember!
Once it was ours
We have waited forever
We are to blame
For once it was ours
Remember - We are living our lost days
Once it was ours!
12 Luna (04:42)
Bleed no reflection
Upon the waters that you fear
Make things happen
Accept no resignation
For some life has been cruel
You have set the mood
Thinking about you... Luna..Luna..Luna
Lay the serpent's egg
In this world of make believe
And make things real
My seed of a lunacy
Was a sign made to resist
A mood set from birth
Thinking about you... Luna..Luna..Luna
Show me your moon burns
Take me as the moon burns
The freezing moon
Making things real for me
The killing Moon
Making things happen for me
Luna..Luna..Luna
Luna - all above
Wound of light in the enemy skies
Make things happen for me
On the eve of self destruction
On the eve of all can be...Thinking about you
13 Best Forgotten (14:08)
Arms towering into fear
Feels like I am going in my sleep
The dead are breeding under my pillow
Is there a place for you in me?
Best forgotten
Gates closing when you draw near
At the very heart of melancholia
Those were his last words
Is there still something to die for?
Inside my heart a wasteland
That only you can fill with life
For ther are strangers in our way
Pulling us under, dreaming us under tonight
As certain as the grave
If I lie to you again
Imposed in the darkness
Every word is true
and best forgotten
Words surrender into a seal
My life is a curse I keep to myself
The dead are breaking under my pillow
Memories of when you were there
Best forgotten
Lips drying when you are near
At the very pit of melancholia
Those were her last souls
Is there still something to dream of?
Inside my heart a wasteland still
That only you could make me feel
For there are snakes in our way
Feeling us under, nesting us under tonight
As certain as the grave if I lie to you again
Imposed in the darkness
Every word is true
and best forgotten
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By OzzyRotten
Moonspell have an extraordinary, although controversial ability: that of making people fall in love with their music in a total and unwavering way for those who follow them.
"Memorial" is an almost maniacal and sadistic concoction of anger, gloom, whispers, and powerful epic rides and fundamentally cruel in their irritated but never chaotic spur.
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.
