Ever wondered what Moonspell would sound like if you sprinkle a little Pink Floyd?

Wait till you hear All or Nothing. Dreamy riffs and the 2 guitar solos give you goosebumps. An emotional ride.

Heard it first because I'm a patron on Patreon, this song alone is worth my money. Even more excited about the album now.

An anticipated release, this was a great release. Definitely better than their last album.

Holy... what a pleasant surprise! Amazing gothic atmosphere, and I think The Hermit Saints is now one of my favorite Moonspell songs.

For me this album is a disappointment ....really miss the rage in Fernando voice maybe with time I will dig it more but pretty solid performance by the musicians .

The best part for me is the end of Apophthegmata reallly epic !

The lush atmospheres are the best thing about it. Not ass immediately catchy as Extinct.

I really love this album owing to it's courage to deviate from simple song structures and crowd-pleasers.

It's an easy 9 from me. The best part of the album is the guitars. so diverse and varied. Ricardo never shows off, but his guitar parts are so carefully crafted that they become a necessary part of the song. The album has more solos than previous albums and every solo is introspective and cool. Even the arpeggios and riffs going on in the background are so good

Fernando's vocals are the second thing that bring me back to the songs. he has tried so many different styles across the songs and each delivery style does justice to the lyrics.

Most bands doing a 13th album would've played safe and made songs close to their best hits. But no, not Moonspell. has to be THE most creative band out there

Though I love the album, I am sure it would get some hate and slack... not for what it is, but for what it's not... and it's not Wolfheart/Irreligious//Extinct or any of the old albums... and many fans hope with every new album that Moonspell would dish out another Wolfheart while the band isn't interested in doing that.

First listen I think "Moonpeth" but that's no bad thing. More listens required for it to really sink in. Nice to hear them experiment with their sound, very atmospheric!

Moonspell really surprised me. I was already a fan, but this album, at this stage of their career, is something else. When the song "All or Nothing" was released, it was clear they outdone themselves. I just love it.

Fantastic album. a real surprise

The lead guitar work on All Or Nothing is just as good as the comments above suggested it would be. A very impressive album all round, it probably won't be something that I find myself revisiting (Extinct is the only Moonspell album to do that so far), but I can really appreciate the work they've done here. Between this album and how well Paradise Lost/Draconian's albums went down last year, looking like good times at the moment for big bands in gothic metal.

Written by musclassia on 01.03.2021 at 14:03

Between this album and how well Paradise Lost/Draconian's albums went down last year, looking like good times at the moment for big bands in gothic metal.

I was thinking pretty much the same. Both Paradise Lost and Draconian's albums were among the best for me in a long long time...

But a difference between Paradise Lost/Draconian's album and Moonspell's is in the reception. While last year both albums got lots of positive reviews and high ratings, it isn't really the case for Moonspell. PL and Draconian's albums ended the year in top 2 of 2020... and Moonspell's is already out of the top 20. Some people love the album, some are meh about it.

Quite weird, as I rate this album very highly. But I can understand the change of style is less than favorable for long time fans of the band.

This is equal as prev one, that was sorta show gothic whit those videos, this is more softer gothic, good album, I like it better as they have done in last years, first one is their best, then I say this.

Written by The Melting Snow on 01.03.2021 at 20:30

Written by musclassia on 01.03.2021 at 14:03

Between this album and how well Paradise Lost/Draconian's albums went down last year, looking like good times at the moment for big bands in gothic metal.

I was thinking pretty much the same. Both Paradise Lost and Draconian's albums were among the best for me in a long long time...

But a difference between Paradise Lost/Draconian's album and Moonspell's is in the reception. While last year both albums got lots of positive reviews and high ratings, it isn't really the case for Moonspell. PL and Draconian's albums ended the year in top 2 of 2020... and Moonspell's is already out of the top 20. Some people love the album, some are meh about it.

Quite weird, as I rate this album very highly. But I can understand the change of style is less than favorable for long time fans of the band.

I loved the Draconian but I've (and I don't know why) never warmed to Paradise Lost. I even took the trouble to catch them live but they left me cold and I spent most of the night propping the bar, fiddling with my phone.

I'll happily be giving this album a go though.

Written by HyperDrifter on 26.02.2021 at 14:07

First listen I think "Moonpeth" but that's no bad thing. More listens required for it to really sink in. Nice to hear them experiment with their sound, very atmospheric!

More like "Moonfloyd" I think. Still, this album is special. It is surprising how interesting and relevant they remain at this point in their career.

I've been having this album on repeat for 3 days now and it just gets better after every replay. Moonspell always seem to bring something new to the table.

It is clear that this is the most progressive side of Moonspell, in fact sometimes I felt a similarity to the band Riverside, especially the instrumental theme (Solitarian), much better than their previous album, a very interesting album.

Mea Culpa finally the more I listen to it the more it grow on me the only negative point is I really miss Fernando angry voice .

Splendid album. I took some time with it, took some spins and I seriously can't say anything negative about it. For me finding out Moonspell is releasing something new doesn't even excite me any more, because I'm so confident, they will deliver something magical. And they did it again with Hermitage.

What I particularly love about this album is that it's not focused so much on tracks per se, but songs really flow from one to another, with really profound and enchanting atmosphere. I love Fernando's velvet voice, it brings so much emotion to the album. Juts another Moonspell masterpiece.

Written by AnGina-- on 11.03.2021 at 13:45

Splendid album. I took some time with it, took some spins and I seriously can't say anything negative about it. For me finding out Moonspell is releasing something new doesn't even excite me any more, because I'm so confident, they will deliver something magical. And they did it again with Hermitage.

What I particularly love about this album is that it's not focused so much on tracks per se, but songs really flow from one to another, with really profound and enchanting atmosphere. I love Fernando's velvet voice, it brings so much emotion to the album. Juts another Moonspell masterpiece.

agreed.

meanwhile, as the album continues to receive praise, the overall rating keeps falling. as per metalstorm ratings this is Moonspell's 2nd worst album

First time checking this guys for real, I dont remember them writing this kind of music, but since theres a lot of talk about recently, decided to give a try and I'm fucking impressed, All or Nothing and Hermitage are just amazing... the leads are sounding pretty taste too, hopefully it'll continue this good through the album

Interesting controversion. Only positive comments, positive review, but pretty low overall rating.

This album is really really smooth. Fernando's voice on this album is like butter on honey on a crispy toast. I love how this album is so different from their previous offerings, how can a band be so deep in their career and still be so creative, have so many new ideas.

My copy isn't arrive to Mexico City yet, but according to my personal preferences, including total and highligts songs ratio (including bonus and covers), promotional and live videos, cover art and songwriting, the present work are clasified in eighth position from 14 (including his work as Daemonach and Under the Moonspell and Under Satanae as one).

Moonspell always explore and expanding his solid career and discography, published new and interesting songs (independent to influences, no single band invents one style by herself).

Hermitage has very good promotional videos showing us some Portugal turistics sites, and very well developed. Songwriting is a highlight for this disc, above all this pandemic situation and many mental problems (personal demons) inside own minds, forcing us isolate ourselves, not all are comfortable accepting that, always is neccesary an innervision to see the world in different ways and expand our own universal views. Know you by yourself open the gates of wisdom.

Hermitage music corresponds with these ideas, above all songs like All or Nothing o Solitarian. To me, highlights song are Hermitage, Entitlement and Apophthegmata. Final songs (Without Rule and City Quitter) are the weak songs in the disc, of course, Darkness in Paradise cover are highlight song too.

Hermitage does not relate his songs habitually as in other works, like previous 1755, where we explore different disaster's stages, arrive of an unknown force (1755), fear of a not pleased god (Tremor Dei), consecuences (1 de Novembro), misorentation (Ruínas), resignation (Todos os Santos) and hope (Lanterna dos Afogados). For me the second best work only behind Wolfheart of course.

In conclusion, Hermitage are middle Moonspell work, interesting, accord to world situation, touching the necessary innervision thoughts, and adding many very goods songs to live concerts.

What is up with the score? All the praise I'm reading should put this up in the 8-9 range and yet it is currently ranked near the bottom of their discography.

Written by Aries Rising on 20.03.2021 at 19:59

What is up with the score? All the praise I'm reading should put this up in the 8-9 range and yet it is currently ranked near the bottom of there discography.

That's actually interesting. In my opinion, that points to an earlier comment I made that this album will get some hate only because it is not Wolfheart/Irreligious/Night Eternal or any of the old Moonspell albums. People come in expecting this album to be a better version of whichever album is their own favorite... when they see that it's not, they give it a low rating.

that also explains why there are just positive comments... those who rated it low probably don't have a better reason for rating it low than "Oh! this isn't Moonspell"... so what would they comment about? They can't say the songwriting is poor, caz it's not. they can't say the musicianship lacks bite, caz it doesn't.... and so on.

if we see the album as a unique entity, there is very little wrong with it. Introspective lyrics and theme, great musicianship, varied vocals going perfectly with each song's concept.

But, understandably, for a band having 13+ albums over 30 years, it is hard to look at 1 album as a unique identity, so can't really blame the people giving low ratings. To me, this is a very special album and I like everything about it.

Written by The Melting Snow on 20.03.2021 at 21:57

Written by Aries Rising on 20.03.2021 at 19:59

What is up with the score? All the praise I'm reading should put this up in the 8-9 range and yet it is currently ranked near the bottom of there discography.

That's actually interesting. In my opinion, that points to an earlier comment I made that this album will get some hate only because it is not Wolfheart/Irreligious/Night Eternal or any of the old Moonspell albums. People come in expecting this album to be a better version of whichever album is their own favorite... when they see that it's not, they give it a low rating.

that also explains why there are just positive comments... those who rated it low probably don't have a better reason for rating it low than "Oh! this isn't Moonspell"... so what would they comment about? They can't say the songwriting is poor, caz it's not. they can't say the musicianship lacks bite, caz it doesn't.... and so on.

if we see the album as a unique entity, there is very little wrong with it. Introspective lyrics and theme, great musicianship, varied vocals going perfectly with each song's concept.

But, understandably, for a band having 13+ albums over 30 years, it is hard to look at 1 album as a unique identity, so can't really blame the people giving low ratings. To me, this is a very special album and I like everything about it.

I get so sick of those caveman "fans" of bands. "Oh it's not like their older albums" or "This isn't 'insert album' 2.0, therefore it sucks." These are the same assholes who would complain about a band not making the same album twice, only to turn around and complain that they don't try anything new if they did pull an AC/DC and release the same album over and over again.

Despite being a huge fan of their "werewolf era", I actually liked this album. It is something quite different, but nicely done. I would give it a 9.
As some said before, we miss the rage on the vocals, but would we like if Moonspell released the same thing over and over again?

It is a change of pace and while it isn't always convincing it has some nice songs such as Hermitage and Without Rule.

Nice album, but It didnt grab me as much as I thought at the beginning. But well even recently I changed 1755 score from 7 to 8, and I think I decreased Memorial, because it was the album that introduced me to Moonspell, but nowadays I barely listen to it.