Portuguese metallers Moonspell have been around for 20 years and to this day they are still making music and are about to release an all new album entitled "Alpha Noir" that comes with a bonus disk "Ómega White" on the special editions. Main frontman Fernando Ribeiro caught up with me to discuss his band's all new album and what we can expect to see from here on out.
1. For those who aren't familiar with Moonspell, can you give us a brief history?
Fernando: I’ll start by saying that we’re a dark metal band that we’ve been existing since 89, and 2012 is our 20th anniversary we’ve been touring in the states and in Europe for quite some time and have a new album coming out called Alpha Noir that comes with a bonus disk called Ómega White and I’m Fernando doing promotion and we’re just promoting right now it’s great.
2. Where are you in the recording process of the new album?
Fernando: Well everything is done right now. We’ve been writing for this album for 4 years it’s probably the album that we’ve spent the most time on it and we wanted to take our time with it and wanted to improve ourselves as musicians and make something that the crowds can enjoy. Everything was recorded in 2011-2012 and recorded in two places the north of Denmark in Europe because we had done previous Moonspell records there and all of the other stuff was recorded at our own studio and we felt more comfortable there and took our time with it. Then we went east and it’s coming out the 27th of April and then May in North America.
3. Who is producing the album?
Fernando: It’s mixed and mastered and produced a Danish producer who’s worked with Moonspell and The Haunted and another producer and Pedro from Moonspell he also had something to do so this production had many people involved and we just went with it.
4. How has the band’s sound evolved since your last release?
Fernando: Well I think the main difference is that Night Eternal had a more death metal influence which was written faster and this time around we wanted to evolve a little bit the good thing is that we incorporated influences from our past and thrash and speed metal bringing it to the band. So I think the songs are simpler and better songs and destructive and improved the songs creating more gothic rock and straight forward metal so we love all metal but have a more stronger influence on gothic metal and it’s a little more different here in Europe than the states so with bands like Mercy and Type O Negative so we tried to get our own thing with the final product.
5. Was your songwriting and recording process any different than usual for this CD?
Fernando: Very different up to the recording of this album we went to the studio we had fun and did our job but to record so many songs and do an ambitious thing it was a lot. We turned things around and recording things in our home studio and we improved with our equipment so everything was done with a perfect sound. There was a swimming pool that was empty so it was a cool experience and the sound is really great as well. So these recordings were really different than anything else we’ve ever done but was more enjoyable as well.
6. How does it feel to be a part of the Napalm Records family?
Fernando: It’s good and brand new in the past we were with Century Media so when the album was done and were looking for a label there were a few interested but Napalm could relate to Moonspell and I can relate to them because they work hard so they have a profile we look for in a label and this record is very important to us and the label and I keep contact with them and everything is perfect so far.
7. What inspired the album title? Is it a concept album?
Fernando: In many ways I’m into concept music what attracted me to rock and heavy metal music was the material and the history about it so we wanted to follow that tradition so I was thinking there’s always a way that people survive and I got inspired with the apocalyptic literature and Alpha presents the beginning of things but Noir represents a black presents so I think we’re definitely in need of a new beginning. But also in the end we were prevail and we have a quality in ourselves and it’s an album and taking your own actions or something like that you have stuff to do so when you have to do it its good because people need to wake up each other and just look beyond our world.
8. How would you describe the overall sound of the new album?
Fernando: Well Alpha Noir is like meat and bones in a way being raw and aggressive. Ómega White is a different sort of things we wanted to capture something different than the other music.
9. What are your expectations for the CD?
Fernando: When we were working so hard and when you get tired because you don’t have time with expectations. When I recall when we had first started we were able to be in the tour bus and have food and drinks and it helped us a lot as a small underground band in different areas it was like playing and getting nothing but hoping for the best. So those are the expectations we want because it’s a kind of fight we are here and just want to play and keep working and loving what we do musically. But sometimes you forget about the music and how interesting it is and what keeps us going throughout the years.
10. What else can we expect to see from you guys?
Fernando: Well right now we’re going to be going on tour during the European festivals that goes until September and then tour in Greece, Turkey, then another tour in November in Europe then in December we’ll be on a cruise then in late December and January we’ll be coming to the states and coming over seas and just touring a lot and put on a great show.
11. Anything else you'd like to say or add?
Fernando: Thank you for the support and nice interview If you guys are interested in checking us out look for our new album and hope to see you whenever we can go overseas and cheers!
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