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Moonspell
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| By
Vinnie Apicella
Moonspell's a band that
will always have a place in my heart. The first time I to
"Mute"
from their "Sin Pecado" release of a few years ago, it
inspired in me a
sensitivity I no longer knew existed. The next time I heard it. let's
just say it's a visceral moment caught in time, an unforgettable time
that when you glance back through your own spiritual resources, it
brings you to another level of consciousness. The same can be said for
much of Moonspell's music-if we figuratively examine their name,
attentively absorb the music, it all becomes clear this is not your
average band of sorrowful evil-doers and dread seekers-surely the
darkness exists, and in perfect balance does too Hope, thus their new
record a combined effort of emotional turmoil stationed in longing
fueled by desire and the stars become perfectly aligned even after the
finality of the doomed cover of Ozzy's "Mr. Crowley," an
unexpected act
of defiance better served as a B-side actually, yet they manage to pull
it off and make it their own and who'd have thought? I won't be naïve
enough to say "Darkness and Hope" is a repeat of what many
consider
their golden age of middle nineties classics, "Wolfheart" or
"Irreligious;" It is in fact furthered in depth and passion
becoming a
fittingly blended creation that falls between their experimentally
evocative "Sin Pecado" and the more aggrandized nature of
"The Butterfly
Effect." Maintaining that power with a fixture of progression, a
career-wide character trait, Moonspell's latest effort is an exercise in
dignity and depth, highly emotive and wrought with minor-key melody and
deft mood swings tantalizing with just enough power tempered with
passion, their Gothic grace firmly entrenched in songs like the opening
title track, nearly Bauhaus in its acoustic mix and atmospheric
arrangements; "Firewalking," a quickly oncoming rush of
immediacy which
overtakes the latter, a heavy breather high on harmonic placement built
around a stoic riff and one for top rankings among the likes of
"Heartshaped Abyss," "Devilred," and the
particularly stirring
"Ghostsong." Moonspell, a long valued tradition in aggressive
enchantment hits on their full range over and above expectation, a peak
and valley significance to every song and wholly reaching back into the
age of antiquity in touch with their roots and still leaving behind an
elegant aura that builds upon past principles while furthering their
standing as a premier musical force.
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