Irreligious

Moonspell | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 20, 1996)
• Original Release Date: August 20, 1996
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Century Media
• ASIN: B000005HMU
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #274,482 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Moonspell

This product is manufactured on demand using CD-R recordable media. Amazon.com's standard return policy will apply.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Classic, February 19, 2000

By 

James F. Colobus (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Irreligious (Audio CD)

This album represents a powerful follow-up to Wolfheart. Although less raw and heavy than its predecessor, Irreligious is sure to please most of those who love Wolfheart. "Opium" is one of my all-time favorite Moonspell songs. It is moody and powerful at the same time. This is one of those albums that takes a few listens before you start picking up its nuances, but it is well worth the effort. One of my favorite things about metal is that there are cool bands from all over the world just waiting to be discovered by listeners in the U.S. Portugal's Moonspell is one of those bands that is relatively big in Europe, but remains underappreciated here in the States. What a shame.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Gothic Metal Album with Driving Melodic Madness, April 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Irreligious (Audio CD)

As a huge TYPE O fan, I was reluctant to give this album a chance, but after listening to this album once through I became a fan. Not quite as dark as TYPE O but they are much better musicians. Great crunching riffs, beautiful dark harmonies, complemented by a true vocalist. Try it, its worth every cent!!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good follow-up to Wolfheart, May 5, 2006

By 

bottleHeD - See all my reviews

This review is from: Irreligious (Audio CD)

"Irreligious" was the follow up to the highly successful "Wolfheart". While Moonspell's debut album had a very folk-inspired gothic sound to it, their sophomore effort does away with most of that, and brings in a much harder sound. They have done away with most of the Portuguese lyrics, and Fernando Ribiero seems to have improved his pronunciation of the English language. Though most of the songs aren't as captivating as what was present on "Wolfheart", this album still maintains a very dark and atmospheric feel throughout. Once again, the focus is more on the arrangement of the songs, rather than highlighting any one instrument. This works in their favour, as there is no song on the album that can be described as bad.

The album starts off with the very vile sounding "Perverse... Almost Religious", with a male choir and keyboards that serves simply as an intro for the album and leads into "Opium", one of Moonspell's best known songs. It's a very intense song with mesmerizing riffs and trademark vocals by Fernando Ribiero. This was also the first song they made a video for.

The songs that follow show a lot of variety between them. "Awake", starting off with a clean intro and a vocal sample (probably from a movie), before it gets into its strangely heavy tone with a very atmospheric tempo. Up next, "A Taste Of Eternity" has a very death-metal feel to it when it starts, with its furious double-bass drumming and screeching growls. It has some very interestingly structured melodies in it, but doesnt really leave a lasting impression.

The Moonspell path is followed perfectly in the songs to come, with a very gothic feel to them. "Ruin And Misery" starts out sounding like a hymn, but definitely not one recommended for your local choir. "Poisoned Gift" seems like the background score for a c-grade horror flick and has Fernando sounding as if he is narrating a story. They manage to retain their heaviness, though all the while encompassing the melodic beauty of Moonspell. The song "Subversive" is almost an instrumental that sounds like something you would best play at a gothic discotheque.

"Raven Claws" is the only song on the album that sounds purely gothic. Coming in after "Subversive", it almost seems out of place, but upon a second listen it feels as if you are listening to "WolfHeart". Featuring Birgit Zacher once again on female vocals, this is definitely one of the best songs on the album.

"Mephisto" was the first song from the album that the band played live. It is a slower song than most of the others on the album, but it still has a very heavy chorus. The song goes out with some wicked laughter. The strangely titled "Herr Spiegelmann" starts off with some carnival music, and wanders around without a purpose. It is a very interesting song, with quotes from Patrick S?skind's The Perfume ("Story Of An Assassin"). Probably one of Fernando's favourite book or poem.

The end is brought up by "Full Moon Madness", which was to be the title for the album, before they went in with "Irreligious". One of the two songs on the album done partly in Portuguese (the other being "Opium"), it has a very royal sound to it, with the guitars sounding more prominent and powerful. Not the perfect track to end with, but nevertheless, it is a very well composed song.

This album suffers only because it is a follow up to the incredible "Wolfheart", and comparisons are bound to happen. Living up to the standards set by that album would have been a hard task for just about any band. However Moonspell still do a commendable job with this album.

A good buy for Moonspell fans, and for anyone who like the genre.