Portuguese gothic metal band MOONSPELL announces new album “Far From God” — and no, they’re not starting a podcast about existential dread.
Portugal’s gothic metal veterans MOONSPELL have revealed that their long-awaited new album will be called “Far From God,” set to drop on July 3 via Napalm Records. Because apparently, waiting for the apocalypse wasn’t enough — now we’re waiting for new MOONSPELL material too.
The band’s frontman Fernando Ribeiro claims this will be the “Irreligious” of the 21st century, which sounds like he’s either promising a masterpiece or threatening to release something that sounds like it was recorded in 1996. Either way, it’s gothic metal, which means plenty of clean vocals, atmosphere, and probably someone wearing a cape somewhere.
Ribeiro explained that after “Hermitage” (remember that album? No? Exactly.), they decided to “underline some characteristics” of MOONSPELL, which apparently means going back to what they do best: being MOONSPELL. Revolutionary stuff, really.
The recording process apparently involved writing “50-something” sets of lyrics and 10 different album titles, which is impressive considering most bands struggle to write 10 coherent thoughts about their music. The pandemic apparently helped them “pick up the pieces,” though it’s unclear if those pieces were musical or just literal pieces of sanity.
On why they’re leaning so heavily into the gothic side this time around, Ribeiro admitted he’s been listening to a lot of “gothic music,” citing bands like FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM, THE SISTERS OF MERCY, and apparently also FRENCH POLICE and TWIN TRIBES, which sound less like gothic bands and more like things you’d find in a police lineup.
The album cover will be revealed March 25th, created by Eliran Kantor, and Ribeiro promises it’s “not probably the cover you expected from MOONSPELL.” So expect something that’s either breathtakingly beautiful or so confusing it makes the “Far From God” title seem straightforward.
For context, MOONSPELL recently performed their first-ever symphonic show “Opus Diabolicum” with a 45-piece orchestra in Lisbon, which is just metal-speak for “we got a bunch of classical musicians to dress in black and pretend they understand what’s happening.” They also released a live performance of “Hermitage” recorded 80 meters underground, because apparently recording in a normal studio wasn’t pretentious enough.
The band parted ways with their original drummer in 2020 and replaced him with Hugo Ribeiro (no relation to Fernando, because apparently that would be too convenient). So if the drumming sounds different, that’s why. Or maybe it’s just the gothic vibes. Hard to tell.
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