This is one of my favorite bands because of their unique style. Starting out in 1989 as a black metal band from Brandoa, Portugal by the name of Morbid God, they released their1992 promo track Serpent Angel. After a few re-arrangements of band members (keeping vocalist Fernando Rebeiro and drummer Ares while attaining guitarist Ricardo and keyboardist Pedro Paixano), the band decided to start out fresh and change their name to Moonspell. Upon changing their name, Moonspell did some work and relased their first and last 5 track demo Anno Satane in June 1993.

Upon being heard by the label MTM, Moonspell was offered the chance to be featured on a double compilation LP along with the best Portuguese Metal bands. They took this opportunity and it turned out to be their big break. After this, Moonspell was offered a few record deals, but chose to hold out and first release Under the Moonspell, the mini CD that got them their contract with their current record label, Century Media. (And also turned out to be the most sold CD in the history of Adipocere Records.)

The guys then released their first album Wolfheart which was a purely black metal album (also released as a limited addition Digipack CD with an extra track, different cover and wolf artwork inside...only 6666 copies made). The band's popularity in Europe was phenominal as they rose from the underground scene to sell over 40,000 copies of this album to date. (And breaking more records, this was the best selling debut album in the history of Century Media)

Following up this album was their new amazing album, Irreligious. After my friend told me about this band and sent me a copy of this, I needed to have the CD, but it took me almost a year to find it! FINALLY, on Halloween, Sam Goody had ONE copy. (And I haven't spotted another copy of the album there since.) But, this album is truly amazing and unique. Abandoning their Satanic black metal lyrics, but not quite their black metal sound, Moonspell combines this with gothic touches and an overall medieval aura brought about by the deepness of vocalist Fernando Ribeiro's voice. Their popularity proved to still be strong even though their sound changed, selling over 50,000 copies with Irreligous.

Moonspell recently released a new double Digi-pack mini CD on October 20th called Second Skin. The first disc contains live tracks of songs off Irreligious and the second disc contains songs off their latest album, Sin Pecado. This CD, (Sin Pecado), was released in January of 1998 and is a drastic change from Moonspell's usual style, sounding much more on the techno side and containing no more hints of black metal.

I'm not sure how popular this band is in the US, but I only know of one other person who has heard of this band besides everyone who I informed of their existence (and it's the guy who introduced Moonspell to me). But, even though this band seems fairly underground in the US, they beat out highly popular Marilyn Manson and Korn to be voted by VIVA, the revelation band for 1996.

If you think you're into this type of music, I'd definitely recommend trying to get your hands on Moonspell's albums. To make it easier, I suggest visiting the Century Media webpage where most of the albums are only $10 with a small charge for shipping and handling. (That's about $6.75 cheaper than buying it in stores.) I'd strongly suggest checking out this page because Moonspell is basically a popular European band and has never even toured the US, so their albums aren't easy to find (even though they have toured with such bands as Cannibal Corpse, Type O Negative, and Morbid Angel)

For more information on this great band, visit their webpage, the Wolfficial Home Page. They really did a great job in this webpage and it's the best band webpage that I've seen yet with lyrics, demo sales, pics, an autobiography written by Rebeiro himself, and tons more. Check it out!

Discography:

Serpent Angel ('92 promo track released under the band name Morbid God)

Anno Satanae (demo tape)

Anno Satanae (re-released by another label)

Goat on Fire - Wolves from the Fog (7'' single)

Under the Moonspell (debut mini CD, CD)

Wolfheart (released in '95)

Wolfheart Digipack (limited edition with extra track)

Irreligious (released in '96)

Opium (CD single from the album Irreligious)

Second Skin (double digipack mini CD)

Sin Pecado (to be released Jan '98)

Visit Other Moonspell Pages!!

Madurk's Moonspell Page
Moonspell
The Not So Unofficial Moonspell Page

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