Darkness and Hope | Moonspell | An Intensely Emotional Experience

Darkness and Hope | Moonspell | Good stuff

popular music:

Darkness and Hope

	Darkness and Hope Moonspell Century Media, 2001 average customer review:based on 19 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

The Portuguese dark force returns with their fifth full-length. Carrying on their brooding textures, 'Darkness & Hope' actually reaches further into the depths of morbidity to come up with an album that is chilling, haunting & full of dark introspection. 'Darkness & Hope' was granted a layer of sonic greatness by H.I.M. Producer Hiili Hiilesmaa, & features a cover of the enduring Ozzy Osbourne classic, 'Mr. Crowley'. Nuclear Blast.

An Intensely Emotional Experience

Moonspell's "Darkness and Hope" is one of their most emotional and easilly acessable Cds. It isn't as intense and heavy as some of their newest Cds, but is nonetheless extremely well composed. In Mike's defense, the drums ARE simple, but are perfect for the mood of Darkness and Hope. It has quickly become my favorite Moonspell CD, as I listen to it at least once a week. I would highly recommend any Moonspell fans give it a listen.

for more information click here

Good stuff

MoonSpell does it again with another great CD Lyrics are great music is great and the mood this CD is fantastic a must buy

One of Moonspell's best attempts

Driven by vocalist Fernando Ribeiro's haunting baritone and lathered with near-perfect production, Darkness and Hope is certainly the most accessible of Moonspell's releases; thankfully, it turns out to be one of the best, as well. If anything, Darkness and Hope is gloomier, darker, and (dare we say hopeless?) more melancholic than their previous releases. The album from start to finish fairly moans its anguish through the speakers as Ribeiro alternately sings and roars his increasingly tortured lyrics over the rumbling thunder of Ricardo Amorim's blackened guitars. The keyboards are omnipresent as would be expected from Moonspell, but they don't become the dominant instrument as the band often (sometimes unwittingly) makes them. Compared to other Moonspell albums, solos abound on Darkness and Hope, with "Nocturna" and the cadaverous cover of Ozzy's "Mr. Crowley" taking center stage with melodic and soulful wails. Beyond that, other songs of note include the driving "Firewalking," pop-influenced "Heartshaped Abyss," and the incredible, haunting masterpiece "Ghostsong." All in all, Darkness and Hope won't disappoint longtime Moonspell fans and beginners will find much to enjoy.

for more information click here

When I listen to this, the room gets just a little bit darker...

If you're looking for a more "chill" metal/dark rock album that maybe sounds different from the stuff you listen to now, "Darkness and Hope" could be your answer. The album literally finds a balance between its two title elements: `darkness,' the shadowy, richly atmospheric quality of the songs that draws you in, and `hope,' the melancholy melodic hooks that keep you listening.

If you're a Moonspell fan, don't make the mistake of getting this CD and then searching for the same aggressively charged lyrics from the "HandMadeGod" days or the immediacy of "Opium". You could end up dismissing it too easily. And if you're a metalhead, be warned that this is probably a lot more mellow than what you're used to, although it still manages to be heavy.

Songs like "Ghostsong" and "Rapaces" take cliché commodities of gothic rock like hauntings and vampirism and turn them on their heads. Other songs like "Firewalking," "Made of Storm," and "How we Became Fire" mix natural elements into an expression of the human spirit. Other songs draw on poetry or yield to the dangerous, dark, complicated feminine as their muse.

The band put out three different versions of this album, each with a different cover song at the end. The best thing about Moonspell's covers is that they're not overworked. My personal favorite is of Madredeus' "Senhores da Guerra" on the Portuguese version of this album. When a metal band can make a Portuguese folk song sound so heavy, doom-laden, and emotionally crushing that it feels like it was destined to be a metal song, you know they're good (also not to mention that Fernando Ribeiro sounds even better singing in his native language). But if you don't want to go hunt that down, the cover of Mr. Crowley is okay- it stays true to Moonspell's sound and is a good tribute to Ozzy's original.

for more information click here

products you might be interested in