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Rating: There is no need to tell or explain to anyone how the career of this Portuguese band is piled with changes of direction, contaminations, experiments, and, what matters most in our opinion, enormous talent and egocentric flair.
Having said this, calmly, after four years have passed since the release of this album, one can perceive, as in a magnificent themed journey, the grand atmospheric passages, mostly dark but exuding a truly fascinating Mediterranean soul, but also, and it would be unfair to deny it, the limits it holds within itself.
Written at a time certainly not excellent for Moonspell, whose consistent habit of varying and quite a bit their sound had created a thick layer of anxiety due to the wait for their new effort which then, when it was finally published, was, as usual, praised by many, and likewise criticized harshly by several without too many compliments. But this is inherent in the nature and the judgment anyone who must assess Moonspell makes, if for no other reason than, and perhaps it is a small consolation to admit it, they know how to surprise at every turn. Despite the criticisms against the Portuguese, no one has ever dared to accuse them of modest originality, and they deserve full credit for this, even in light of slightly complicated episodes and perhaps a bit too far from their style in the past. But surely this is not a critical chronicle being discussed here, but a work that, for me, has excellently represented a certain period of my life; whether it was good or bad is irrelevant, but it will be of interest to know that anyway, it was mostly dictated by the notes of this "black" and disjointed tale.
A tale indeed, because the album, right from its production and the promotion given to it, aimed to embrace a more reflective and decadent, as well as intellectual, aura of the Gothic genre; the ingredients were many and well equipped: writer José Luís Peixoto, a friend of singer Fernando Ribeiro, inspired by the sulfurous and devilish inspirational vein of Moonspell, published his story entitled "Antidote," which would be sold together with the album in a deluxe edition with multimedia content (which include, besides the story, also the video of the first single "Everything Invaded"), two stickers, a well-made booklet, and a poster of Moonspell in a "shabby" and misanthropic pose.
From a strictly musical standpoint, Moonspell here produced their darkest and most claustrophobic album of the new era (which includes, among others, "Sin/Pecado" and "The Butterfly Effect," as well as "Darkness and Hope" of which, for the sake of record, "The Antidote" is a son), with compositions halfway between an angry, masterfully executed Gothic and tribal elements accentuated by the fine work of drummer Mike Gaspar, well-heard in episodes like "From Lowering Skies", "The Southern Deathstyle", and "In and Above Men", which are perhaps, among others, the most incisive songs of the whole album, since unfortunately, with "The Antidote," Moonspell did not precisely hit the target they had set for themselves, though they came close.
Sure, all the tracks are thought out, played, and vibrant as any good example in the Moonspell household should be, the production, entrusted to the magnate of European Gothic Waldemar Sorychta, is clear, powerful, and crystal clear (while, another curiosity, the bass in this album is played by Niclas Etelävuori already in Amorphis), but in some ways, some songs could have been spared, ultimately resulting in difficult assimilation and a bit too monotonous and one-note in their dark "wrapping around themselves."
Of course, I'm not speaking of the first part of the album, which closes with the title track "Antidote", but rather the second part, more seminal and refined, but perhaps a bit too "rarefied" and relegated to dissonant schemes for a high-level band like Moonspell, so "Capricorn At Her Feet", "Lunar Still", "As We Eternally Sleep on It", seem more like acceptable drafts to use for more complex tracks rather than standalone parts. However, these are exceptions, that do not apply to tracks like "Antidote", with its magnificent and desolating guitar riff in the chorus, clearly of Moonspell’s making and contributing alone to raise the average score or for the aforementioned "In And Above Men", "From Lowering Skies", and "Everything Invaded", which, alongside well-connected instrumental sections that exude darkness and oppressive feelings of desolation from every pore, benefit from Ribeiro's excellent vocal performance that here probably reaches the peak of his expressiveness, managing to move instantly from barely hinted whispers given in "clear" to throat-tearing screams like only he knows how to do, which are amplified even more in the band's last work "Memorial".
So, naturally, if you are fans of the Portuguese and still do not own the CD, it should be said it is worth buying, for others, who would like to get to know them and form an opinion, certainly, perhaps, this album should not be the first and most representative to listen to. Nevertheless, these are undoubtedly personal opinions, which, however, those who have known Moonspell for a long time, loved them, and have been confused by them at certain moments, know exactly what they refer to, and consequently, what they are facing.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 In and Above Men (04:11)
The fury of waters
Revolving still.
Your voices are silences
When they speak through me.
To the crossroads
We are turning our backs
And in each of your wounds
I will plant a seed of belief
In and above men
The End which is ours
Unclear still.
The thirst growing stronger
And you still won't believe
Someday we'll come out of your dreams.
And through the eyes you now close
The immense light of the Deep
In and above men
The fury of Human
Revolting still
Will we be together?
Finally.
In the crossroad
You gave me your back
And through each of your wounds
You will bleed light over me
Bleeding the skies all over me
03 Everything Invaded (06:16)
From the soul to its waste,
The Common hates his evil twin.
Everything invaded
In its simplicity
How did you get inside me?
Still all fascinated,
Invaded by everything.
In the first morning light
The touch of death covering skies,
Everyhting invaded
(and) All the fears inspired
How did you get inside me?
Still all celebrated
Invaded by everything
Everything so full
In the lives I have taken with Me.
All our moments wasted
All is getting in.
Still all violated
Divided by everything
And all the grace disturbed.
All existence false.
All your dead generations!
I am a son of yours and I am coming back.
Everything invaded
In its finality.
Tell me will it hurt
When you get outside of me?
Everything is breaking.
Why have we ever stopped here?
Everything invaded
I am a son of yours
And I am giving up.
Everything invaded
Invaded by everything
04 The Southern Deathstyle (04:07)
The silver bullet - so earthly fast
Forever rope - so hard to find
The silver bullet - so earthly thrashed
Forever rope - symbol of Trust
The mandrake's root your restless lover
The Morning blade, first to awake
The morning shame that you can't take
The Mandrake't root. In Venenum veritas...
The silver bullet. The Southern Deathstyle
Forever Rope - forever tied
The mandrake's pill - your magic route to nowhere
The morning breaks - it's lunar still...
The Elements all moulded together
A family whose name is Death
The Elements in circle fear
Bullet. Root. Blade. and Rope
All hold so dear
06 Capricorn at Her Feet (06:04)
Snowbird, ablaze and hurt.
Brighter, fearless, just like a runaway.
Princess never-a-smile.
Oh, child! What makes you try?
Crying and sobbing
You greet the other day
She who never touches ground.
Spreading an eclipse.
Where never the sun shines,
At her feet.
Frostbite, Astray, Will, Faith.
Haunting, hunting ,she rules the game.
Twin soul you are always a strange.
Nothing ever makes you afraid?
Promising, threatening.
She looks the other way
She who never touches ground.
Spreading an eclipse.
Where never the sun shines
At her feet.
Starlike, but never to be counted.
Look at your hands, child!
Destinies grow back to them.
Daughter sun
With nothing to say.
Never a fullmoon
Just the sickening ray.
Prudent.
In tears hiding,
No water shed.
The sign of the Cross
Will take you to bed.
In Capricorn.
Spreading an eclipse
May never the sun shine
At her feet
«Tread lightly, for she is near
Under the snow, speak gently, for she can hear
Your fears grow...»
08 A Walk on the Darkside (04:44)
Now you dream inside
Her sleep of death.
You get to keep your soul
Until she claims it back.
A darkness without end.
Morning was drained.
Here comes the rain.
And on the other side,
All is dark again.
And the dark walls
At your side again.
And you walk
The darkside again.
You are the dream inside
Her sleep of death.
And as I move through her soul
I'll find you hiding in there:
The darkness with no end.
With a light of herself.
No one can forget.
And on the other side
All is dark again
And the dark walls
At your side again.
And you walk
The darkside again.
May you walk the darkside again.
And you walk
The darkside again.
10 As We Eternally Sleep on It (07:09)
The seed of Men,
From trees now freezing.
All silevered leaves
With messages written
The Imitators
In sequences bright.
All perpetraitors
In cahins of gold.
From the Wait we got our hearts so wet.
The Legend rains our drops of sweat.
Sweet all the Season. The crop is Death.
Reaped on the Rush. You hate yourself.
The best of Men,
Through racks now stumbling.
Learning the blind walk.
All apprentices.
The fierest Men,
In sheep's clothing,
Have bor exhausted
To everything.
And yes we all believe in Madness.
We are being born at the sound of Ends.
And yes we all belive in cruelty
We breed it out so easily.
It used to be the pride of Men,
Now a flame put out by the cold in his hand.
And yes we all have signed the pacts.
We knew so well nothing was left.
And yes we still believe in Beauty
As we eternally sleep on it.
The last of Men
All hide in here
Domesticated by everything
What's left of the Man
I had within,
Now gone forever
The Beast sets in.
And yes we all believe in Fury.
When nothing else is supposed to be.
Consumed are now all the rewards,
As we eternally...
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