Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band formed in 1989. The group released their first EP, Under the Moonspell, in 1994 and followed up with their debut album, Wolfheart, a year later. They quickly became the most recognizable metal band from Portugal and a key figure in gothic metal.
Moonspell achieved success in Portugal with their 1998 album Sin/Pecado. With Memorial (2006), the group also became the first Portuguese metal band to have a record certified Gold. They are also popular in Germany, where their albums consistently enter the Top 100 Chart. the band settled on the name Moonspell in 1992, shortly after they released the promo track "Serpent Angel". At the time of the name change, the band's line-up was Fernando Ribeiro (Langsuyar) on vocals, João Pedro "Ares" Escoval (Tetragrammaton) on bass, Duarte Picoto (Mantus) and Luís Lamelas (Malah) on the guitars, and Miguel "Mike" Gaspar (Nisroth) on the drums. Ribeiro and Ares were the founders and masterminds of Morbid God / Moonspell, while the latter members joined Morbid God at different points in 1992. Of them, only Mike Gaspar joined after the recording of "Serpent Angel".
On 24 February 1993, the band released their demo Anno Satanæ, which contained three songs accompanied by an intro and an outro. In September, Pedro Paixão joined the band to play keyboards. On 6 November 1993, Moonspell performed their first show in Charneca, Lisbon. Shortly after, Lamelas was fired and replaced by João Pereira (Tanngrisnir). The demo circulated around the scene and eventually attracted the interest of independent label Adipocere Records, which signed the band for a mini-album.
On 27 April 1994, Moonspell released the mini-album Under the Moonspell and toured around Portugal to promote it and try to jump to a bigger label. After the release of mini-album Under the Moonspell, Moonspell signed with Century Media Records for six albums.
Breakthrough (1995–1997)
Wolfheart was recorded in Germany with producer Waldemar Sorychta and was released on 1 April 1995. By June, João Pereira was struggling with the band's breakthrough and his daytime job, and was replaced by Ricardo Amorim, who was asked to join the band on 13 June. Shortly before, Ricardo had been approached by the band to possibly replace João on some shows, but that came to nothing as João was given a second chance.
In July, Moonspell performed three shows in the United Kingdom, their first ones outside Portugal, and in September, the band embarked on a European tour, supporting Morbid Angel. Duarte Picoto told the band he couldn't go on the European tour as he was having personal issues of his own, but they went on anyway, as they felt it was too big of an opportunity to throw away, and played as a five-piece. Ricardo, who had joined the band after Wolfhearts release, was then the sole guitarist playing live. Duarte's status in the band was on hold during the tour, as the band was initially reluctant about firing him due to his perceived importance on songwriting, but after it, the band felt comfortable as a five-piece and Duarte ended up not being reinstated.
For 1996's Irreligious, the band again recorded with producer Waldemar Sorychta. The song "Opium" became the first Moonspell single. It quoted one of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa's heteronyms, Álvaro de Campos, on his poem "Opiário", and its music video featured the character of the poet writing in a bar with the band playing. Along with the release of the album in a convent, the Convento do Beato, there were factors that helped the band sell 10,000 copies of the album in their homeland. the album was mainly composed by guitarist/keyboard player Pedro Paixão and was not very well received by metal critics.
More rock-oriented era (2001–2005)
thumb|[[Fernando Ribeiro during a live show in Spain in 2006]]
Darkness and Hope was released in 2001 and was produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa, producer of Sentenced and HIM. The album reached 79th on German charts The song was also issued as a single in 2004, featuring the full and edited versions.
Revisiting their roots (2006–2009)
Memorial was released in 2006. Recorded with the producer of their first three albums Waldemar Sorychta, who also recorded the bass guitar parts, it was the first to be released under their new label SPV Steamhammer. The album topped the Portuguese album chart on its first week and also broke into the German Top 100 at number 68.
On 2 November 2006, Moonspell won an MTV Europe Music Award in the category of Best Portuguese Act.
The Great Silver Eye, a best-of album, was released on 26 June 2007.
In 2007, Moonspell released Under Satanæ, a re-recording of early songs.
Night Eternal was released on 16 May 2008, again with Niclas Etelävuori on bass. The lead single off the album, Scorpion Flower, features Dutch singer Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering, now Agua De Annique).
Moonspell performed the "Blackest of the Black" tour with Danzig, Winds of Plague, Dimmu Borgir and Skeletonwitch.
Moonspell toured Europe with Cradle of Filth, Gorgoroth, Septicflesh and Asrai ("The Darkest Tour: Filthfest") in December 2008, and took part in a European tour with Cradle of Filth and Turisas, dubbed the "Darkest Tour: Filthfest 2", in April and May 2009.
In July 2010, it was reported that the Portuguese Postal Service would release "a collection of stamps that represent the most significant rock moments and records from Portugal," which included Moonspell's first album, Wolfheart.
New albums (2010–present)
thumb|Moonspell at [[Kavarna Rock Fest 2011]]
In July 2010, vocalist Fernando Ribeiro revealed the band was working on a new album, which he described as "the most exciting, sexiest, darkest, heaviest and catchiest stuff we've written in ages!". Around the same time, Aires Pereira was admitted as a full member of the band, after playing live with them for eight years.
In January 2012, Moonspell revealed the title of the new album to be Alpha Noir, with a release date of 27 April 2012 and a special edition set to include the album's "musical twin", Omega White. The band's press release cited Bathory, King Diamond, Onslaught, early Metallica, Testament, and Artillery as influences for Alpha Noir, which was described as "an incendiary album". It detailed the story of the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, and was sung entirely in Portuguese, apart from some choirs in Latin.
On 3 July 2020, Moonspell announced that Mike Gaspar, the original drummer, had left the band, and that he would be replaced by Hugo Ribeiro.
On 26 February 2021, Moonspell released their 12th album called Hermitage.
In 2024, Moonspell announced their plan to record a new album that was scheduled for release in 2025 or 2026. They have also planned to do several 30th anniversary tours for their first three studio albums, from 2025 to 2028. In October 2025, Ribeiro announced that they would start recording their follow-up to Hermitage in December. By January 2026, he announced that Moonspell had almost completed mixing the album. He stated that the upcoming album would be a "very atmospheric and gothic metal album" and have beautiful songs as well as strong and catchy choruses. On 8 March 2026, Moonspell announced that Far from God is the name of their thirteenth studio album, to be released on 3 July.
Band members
;Current members
- Fernando Ribeiro <small>(Langsuyar)</small> – lead vocals <small>(1992–present)</small>
- Pedro Paixão <small>(Passionis/Neophytus)</small> – keyboards, sampler, programming, guitars <small>(1992–present)</small>
- Ricardo Amorim <small>(Morning Blade)</small> – guitars, backing vocals <small>(1995–present)</small>
- Aires Pereira <small>(Ahriman)</small> – bass <small>(2004–present)</small>
- Hugo Ribeiro – drums <small>(2020–present)</small>
;Former members
- Miguel Gaspar <small>(Mike/Nisroth)</small> – drums <small>(1992–2020)</small>
- João Pedro Escoval <small>(Ares/Tetragrammaton)</small> – bass <small>(1992–1997)</small>
- Duarte Picoto <small>(Mantus)</small> – guitars <small>(1992–1995)</small>
- Luís Lamelas <small>(Malah/Fenrir)</small> – guitars <small>(1992–1993)</small>
- João Pereira <small>(Tanngrisnir)</small> – guitars, backing vocals <small>(1993–1995)</small>
- Sérgio Crestana – bass <small>(1997–2003)</small>
;Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Album details
! scope="col" colspan="7"| Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Sales
! scope="col" rowspan="2"| Certifications
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| POR<br />
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| GER<br />
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| FRA<br />
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| FIN<br />
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| NLD<br />
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| AUT<br />
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;"| BEL<br />
|-
! scope="row" |Wolfheart
|
- Released: 1 April 1995
- Label: Century Media Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|
|
|-
! scope="row" |Irreligious
|
- Released: 29 July 1996
- Label: Century Media Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| 50 || 55 || — || 30 || 93 || — || —
|
|
|-
! scope="row" |Sin/Pecado
|
- Released: 20 January 1998
- Label: Century Media Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| 1 || 42 || — || 18 || — || 25 || —
|
|
|-
! scope="row" |The Butterfly Effect
|
- Released: 13 September 1999
- Label: Century Media Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| — || 69 || — || — || — || — || —
|
- US: 3,750+
|
|-
! scope="row" |Darkness and Hope
|
- Released: 18 September 2001
- Label: Century Media Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| 1 || 43 || 99 || 21 || — || — || —
|
|
|-
! scope="row" |The Antidote
|
- Released: 29 September 2003
- Label: Century Media Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| 4 || 75 || 125 || — || — || — || —
|
|
|-
! scope="row" |Memorial
|
- Released: 25 April 2006
- Label: Steamhammer Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| 1 || 68 || 181 || — || — || — || —
|
- POR: 10,000+
|-
! scope="row" |Under Satanæ
|
- Released: 12 October 2007
- Label: Steamhammer Records
- Formats: CD, digital download
| 12 || — || — || — || — || — || —
|
|
|-
! scope="row"| Night Eternal
|
- Released: 16 May 2008
- Label: Steamhammer Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| 3 || 62 || 144 || — || — || — || —
|
- US: 800+
|
|-
! scope="row"| Alpha Noir/Omega White
|
- Released: 27 April 2012
- Label: Napalm Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| 2 || 37 || 108 || 37 || 83 || 44 || 186
|
- US: 1,200+
|
|-
! scope="row"| Extinct
|
- Released: 6 March 2015
- Label: Napalm Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| 1 || 39 || 178 || 42 || 87 || 54 || 56
|
|
|-
! scope="row"| 1755
|
- Released: 3 November 2017
- Label: Napalm Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| 11 || 72 || 159 || — || — || 63 || 89
|
|
|-
! scope="row"| Hermitage
|
- Released: 26 February 2021
- Label: Napalm Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| 1 || 19 || — || — || — || 33 || 60
|
|
|-
! scope="row"| Far from God
|
- Released: 3 July 2026
- Label: Napalm Records
- Formats: CD, LP, digital download
| — || — || — || — || — || — || —
|
|
|-
| colspan="15" style="font-size:90%"| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
|}
Live albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! scope="col" style="width:20em;"| Title
! scope="col" | Album details
|-
! scope="row" |Lusitanian Metal
|
- Released: 8 December 2008
- Label: Century Media
- Formats: CD
|-
! scope="row"| Lisboa Under the Spell
|
- Released: 17 August 2018
- Label: Napalm Records
- Formats: 3CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, Vinyl 3LP
|-
! scope="row"| From Down Below
|
- Released: 30 September 2022
- Label: Napalm Records
- Formats: 4CD, 2DVD, Blu-Ray, Vinyl 2LP
|}
Compilations
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details
! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart positions
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;font-size:90%;" |POR<br />
|The Butterfly Effect
|-
|2001
|"Nocturna"
|Tiago Guedes
|Darkness and Hope
|-
|2003
|"Everything Invaded"
|Tiago Guedes, Frederico Serra
|The Antidote
|-
|2004
|"I'll See You in My Dreams"
|Filipe Melo
|I'll See You in My Dreams (soundtrack)
|-
|rowspan=2|2006
|"Finisterra"
|Ivan Čolić, Josip Čolić
|rowspan=2|Memorial
|-
|"Luna"
|Miguel Braga, Edgar Martins, Sérgio Martins
|-
|rowspan=2|2008
|"Scorpion Flower"
|rowspan=2|Ivan Čolić
|rowspan=2|Night Eternal
|-
|"Night Eternal"
|-
|rowspan=2|2012
|"Lickanthrope"
|Felipe Melo
|rowspan=2|Alpha Noir/Omega White
|-
|"White Skies"
|rowspan=3|Victor Castro
|-
|2015
|"Extinct"
|rowspan=2|Extinct
|-
|2015
|"Domina"
|-
|2017
|"In Tremor Dei"
|Miguel Braga
|rowspan=2|1755
|-
|2017
|"Todos os Santos"
|Paulo F. Mendes (Editor)
|-
|rowspan=2|2020
|"The Greater Good"
|rowspan=4|Guilherme Henriques
|rowspan=4|Hermitage
|-
|"Common Prayers"
|-
|rowspan=2|2021
|"All or Nothing"
|-
|"The Hermit Saints"
|}
References
External links
- Official website