Search - Moonspell :: Irreligious

A personal favorite

A. Vera | Sacramento, CA United States | 06/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a favorite of mine. Irreligious is a great album for many reasons. The music is incredible and the guitar riffs KICK A** on every song. The drums and all other instruments are played at a very high level. Every song sounds different and this album never gets repetitious. Fernando is one of the great vocalists in Metal music today, with ranges from Black to Death Metal. Yes, the mood is a little dramatic at times but that's what makes this album so good and a little cheesy. The problem is that people try to categorize every group into genre and over analyze. Some idiots say that Moonspell sound like generic Black Metal. That's beyond wrong; these guys are just a great metal group. Moonspell are a kick a** band with influences ranging from Black Metal all the way to Power metal and everything in between! I like really like 4 of their albums but this is my favorite. The Butterfly Effect and Sin/Pecado are the 2 albums I don't care for."

Good follow-up to Wolfheart

bottleHeD | 05/05/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

""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."

Classic Gothic Metal of the 90's

Brian Skala | Fort Worth, TX United States | 07/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The best Moonspell album by far I think. The tracks are the most daring and interesting then alot of other stuff they've done. Love the keyboards on this album with the guitars blended. Nerr Spiegelmann, Awake and Opium are the highlights on this album though it's tough to pick one song. Should be in everyone's collection a fan of metal or something heavy and different."