Customer Reviews

Memorial (Spec)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In this Portugese bands' latest release, their sound gets even darker and heavier. Fernando Ribiero does a decent job on vocals overall, but the real highlight of this album is its musical variety. Most of the vocals are death growls. This is not a problem, as Moonspell's music is complex and shows much emotion compared to some of their contemporaries. There are few Goth Metal bands that have as powerful a sound as Moonspell. This disc is no exception. It is hard to pick favorite songs of this album, as all of them are good. After a powerful introduction with "In Memoriam," the first really great track "Finisterra" starts, which is head-banging and has awesome lyrics. Each song has a different feel to it. The next song after "Finisterra," "Memento Mori," has a really eery feel to it, as well as vocal variety. It is my second favorite track after Finisterra. "Sons of Earth" is a cool instrumental track. The track after that, "Blood Tells" sounds like it is influenced by Theatre of Tragedy. "Upon the Blood of Men," the sixth track, is a unique song with death vocals that sound desperate, for lack of a better word. "At the Image of Pain" is a slightly slower song, that has more Doom Metal influences and strange vocals for a Moonspell song. The next track, "Sanguine," starts out melodic and slow and builds into an emotional piece of music. Guest vocals on this song are done by Brigit Zacher. This is also one of my favorite tracks, just because it is so different. The next song "Proliferation," sounds like a soundtrack from a sci-fi or horror movie, and feels unnecessary to the album, but it leads nicely to the beautifully evil "Once it was Ours!" This is also a very cool track that fits well on this Moonspell album. Contrasting greatly with "Once it was Ours," the short eleventh track "Mare Nostrum" has a much more atmospheric feel, and is fully instrumental. After this is another really beautiful track called "Luna." This is another one of my favorites. This has a much lighter gothic feel to it, more similar to Lacuna Coil, with more guest vocals done by Brigit Zacher. Track thirteen, "Best Forgotten," has heavier and more melodic parts, and is overall a pleasant song. The bonus track, "Atlantic," is more than satisfactory as a Moonspell song, and Fernando uses several different vocal styles, which work well together. This is a very solid release by these Goth Metal masters. I recommend it for anyone who likes the heavier forms of Goth Metal or for fans of Doom Metal or Death Metal.

Seriously, I have to wonder when I see something get consistently lavished with praise. The word that springs to mind is "overhyped". But, this album is by far one of the finest efforts I've ever seen from Moonspell. This is quite possibly the most interesting and diverse album I've heard in at least 10 years. Someone mentioned in another review that each song is basically unique. I would agree and further it by saying that each song has its own soul. They literally come alive. I think what I appreciate most is that the songs sound real. They sound professional but do not have that over-produced glossy Pro-Tools sound. Basically what I'm trying to say is that if you see this band live, they will sound just as good as they do on this album. Make no mistake, this album is heavy, and the vocals are very characteristic of past Moonspell releases. I think those familiar with this band will be very pleased with this release, and anyone who appreciates imaginative, powerful music will feel like they've discovered something special.

In the genre of true Gothic Metal, there is no better band to bring it to the table than Moonspell. Heralded as the most successful Portuguese band ever, they return to us after a couple of year's absence from album releases with "Memorial" - it is an album that holds you in its dark grip from beginning to end without question. Musically this effort is one of the strongest I have heard from the Gothic Metal sector in my times observing the genre and to the bands credit, working with producer Waldemar Sorychta (Lacuna Coil, Sentenced, Tiamat) was probably the smartest thing they could have done with this album. Gloomy and intense instrumental intros lead you into a thunderous display of musical power that is so dramatic you feel as though you are listening to a horror movie put to music. "Finisterra" and "Mememto Mori" and among my favorite numbers along with "Sanguine" as they especially deal with darker subject matter and are written it would seem by Darkness itself. Leader Fernando is mesmerizing across the length of the album and as each song plays you can almost envision him atop a moonlit mountain as mists and other workings of the midnight sky happen all around him. Another track with heavy appeal is "Luna" which has a mostly clean vocal from Fernando along with the haunting voice of Brigit Zacher. Moonspell have outdone themselves with this recording and I feel that those who have only sampled the band before do themselves justice and grab a copy of "Memorial". While it is not the bands first effort, it is very clearly their best to date. This will be an album that true Gothic Metal is gauged and rated against so other bands who deliver this aspect of the genre will do well to study it. I think the main part of the records appeal is the fact that it does not totally follow the Gothic definition by being overly depressing and melancholy. The keyboard use and the deeper clean vocals and guitar chord structure make the Gothic vibe come to life, but the album is also very energetic, heavy and darker than the abyss. A lyric and photo booklet is included which will serve to enrapture you more into the midnight world of Moonspell. This is an album for all fans of Atmospheric, Dark, Progressive and Gothic Metal. It's a winner from beginning to..................End.

This is the return of the most famous portuguese metal band. As a portuguese person myself, I'm quite proud of them for bringing our metal scene all over the world.

This album is simply amazing. For sure it's heavier than I expected, but it exceeded my already high expectations. It mixes great melodies and amazing vocals (Fernando on his best) with a wonderful production job. It gets even better and more intense everytime I listen to it.
My favourite songs are undoubtedly Finisterra, Blood Tells, At The Image of Pain and Best Forgotten. The bonus track (Atlantic) is a great surprise so hurry up and buy the digipac.

Thanks for another amazing work. Stay always under the moonspell.

THis is their worst album in their entire career. Its simply amazingly boring album with no good moments at all. only for moonspell collectors.

Wow. I have never yet met a Moonspell album that didn't have at least a few songs I liked--until now, anyway. This is definitely a low point for one of my favorite bands. The songs basically sound all the same, with only a little variation in vocals and chord progression. Compared to earlier works like Wolfheart and Irreligious, Memorial is a heavy disappointment.

I don't know much about the band nor do I own any of their albums so what exactly possessed me to purchase Moonspell's "Memorial" I don't know, but I'm sure glad I did! In my humble opinion, "Memorial" has all the makings of a five star metal record, heavy heavy heavy songs, songs like: "Finisterra", "At The Image Of Pain" and of course "Once It Was Ours!", It has the eerie balad like song: "Luna" and the epic grand finally: "Atlantic" with the haunted ending. The Interludes are really neate too, especially "Proliferation". The other songs I didn't mention are great as well and add to the albums theme. I highly recommend this album to those looking for something new and fresh to enjoy. To summarize, "Memorial" is exquisite; it combines experimental elements from other genres of music like classical and blends them into a rich dark goth metal stew to be served to ears that are ready to hear new things from modern heavy music. yumm.

I quit on Moonspell after Irreligious, re-invented my interest with the Antidote, but this album is definitely Fantastic, seriously thanx for it, haven't heard anything so powerful in quite a while. It's superb comeback!

It goes from a gothic type of atmosphere to a very up front hardcore appeal with mystical lyrics (some of the best lyrics I've ever read). Songs 2 and 3 set the tone and there are the weird in between songs that give it some creative balance. My only beef is the vocals are a little too loud on this album, especially the grunts/screams. Saw them live last night and much more evened out. The songs live on this album really sound awesome.

I DONT HAVE ENOUGH WORDS TO SAY ABOUT THIS CD. JUST GO BUY IT THIS IS A GREAT CD BEST OF 2006 SO FAR. ALSO IF U CAN SEE THIS GUYS LIVE THEY PUT ON A HELL OF A SHOW U DONT EVEN HAVE TO LIKE THEM. BUT THIS CD IS A MUST HAVE IF U LIKE METAL DEATH METAL BLACK GOTH IT IS JUST A GOOD CD TO HAVE. PICK IT UP U WILL LOVE IT