MOONSPELL – “ALPHA NOIR”
NAPALM RECORDS (2012)
You know when you really begin to realise that you are getting older? When a band whose music you first came across what seems like only yesterday are celebrating their twentieth anniversary! One such band is the Portuguese Goth Metallers Moonspell – a band whose 1995 debut “Wollfheart” made a huge impression on most fans of the 90s extreme Metal scene but which, for various reasons, failed to make a loyal fan out of me. Not being one for easily giving up and firmly believing that there is a right time for everything, I decided to once more venture into the dark realms of the band’s musical psyche by taking a look at their latest studio effort “Alpha Noir”. Would this be the album to convert me?
My initial reaction was that of total surprise – the band’s music sounded much heavier than I remembered. Sure, heavy guitars had always featured quite heavily, but Pedro Paixao’s keyboards always ensured a fine balance between heaviness and melody. This balance was not honoured in “Alpha Noir” – an album that relies mainly on simple rhythmical riffs and Fernando Ribeiro’s deep vocals for impact, with keyboards playing a more supportive role. Though the album’s press release sited bands like Bathory and King Diamond as sources of inspiration, I found elements from the works of latter-day Satyricon and bands like Nightfall to be more prominent here.
On paper, “Alpha Noir” is an album that should really appeal to me and I have to admit that the nine songs on offer provide a fairly enjoyable experience; however, there is something quite negative about Moonspell’s ninth studio album. The tunes are catchy, but the moment I stopped listening to the album I could hardly remember what most of the songs sounded like. The opening track “Axis Mundi” is an exception as it sports a really catchy head banging riff that can hardly go unnoticed but there is not much separating songs like “Lickanthrope”, “Versus”, “Em Nome Do Medo” and “Opera Carne” which soon follow, regardless of a few interesting rhythmical and melodic moments. The second (slightly) stand-out track was the Satyricon-influenced “Love Is Blasphemy” which is the seventh song of the album and while the leads on “Grandstand” are also fairly interesting, this song cannot really compete. The closing composition of the album is a five minute instrumental entitled “Sine Missione” – a fine blend of dark keyboard tunes and symphonic arrangements that, in my humble opinion, appear way too late to help enhance the importance and value of this release.
I do not see a bad album in “Alpha Noir” – it is an enjoyable listen and the work of Tue Madsen with regards both the mix and the overall production is of the highest possible standard. My main concern is the band’s tendency towards repetition and their inability to offer something unique or attractive enough to capture the average listener’s attention, when competing with many similar albums out there. Having said that, I am almost convinced that Moonspell’s most loyal fans will find it both in their hearts (and pockets) to invest in this latest offering.
John Stefanis
Rating: *** (3.0/5.0)
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