Goth metal pioneers Moonspell celebrate their 30th anniversary together with 13th studio album Hermitage – recorded, mixed, and mastered by Jaime Gomez Arellano at the Orgone Studios in the UK.
Swirling opener “The Greater Good” is wonderfully mellow with an outstanding bass line that the rest of the track is beautifully crafted around. Another great example of how the band is more than comfortable within themselves becomes even clearer with “Common Prayers”. This has some great melody to it and is a perfect pairing with the opener.
Now the album is beginning to feel like a different entity altogether with the 7-minute+ opus “All or Nothing”. It feels like a vast ballad with real depth and some stunning guitar solos. A sprinkling of the old Moonspell magic touches title track “Hermitage” whilst the ethereal and melodic sounds of “Entitlement” weave into the synths of “Solitarian” as if they were born from the same womb.
If you like what we do, consider joining us on Patreon for as little as £1 per month!
Next up is my highlight track of the album, “The Hermit Saints”. All the elements line up and every time I played it I heard something new. Again the next track “Apophthegmata” compliments the previous track wonderfully.
I couldn’t and still can’t listen to “Another Rule” without thinking of Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage”! Lastly the outro to the album, “City Quitter”, left me wondering where the band goes from here… Lead singer Fernando Ribeiro reveals:
We know that we are entering the final years of our career as musicians: the winter of our lifetime. We don’t care about people saying we’re still young at heart, or “leading” wolves in a pack. We are not! But we do care about how those around us feel about us, and this album is all about how we feel, our answers to your questions.
A woeful journey into human existence.
Don’t fancy Patreon? Buy us a one-off beverage!
Header image by Rui-Vasco
Hermitage will be released on February 26th, 2021.
Check out all the bands we review in 2021 on our Spotify and YouTube playlists!
Moonspell: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | bandcamp | spotify | youtube
wpDiscuz