DARKNESS AND HOPE

I've never been in the ban of Moonspell. Somehow this band never convinced me of their acclaimed gothic death metal pioneering status. Judging by this album and the two that preceded it, I would rate them as a competent 90's metal band in a field dominated by superior and more adventurous artist like Tiamat, Paradise Lost and Amorphis. Maybe I haven't heard the albums yet that really matter.

I don't think this album fits here very well, but judged by its own merits, Of Darkness and Hope is an unremarkable but still competent album with a mix of average and really good songs in this style.

Highlights are the upbeat Sisters of Mercy on steroids of Firewalking, Devilred and The Serpents in My Hands. Also the more commercial but enchanting Nocturna is worth a spin, Ribeiro brings a deep warm baritone but it sure doesn't lick the heels of Joy Division's Ian Curtis. Rapaces is probably the best track. It has a number of recognizable Killing Joke elements such as the chord picking and the chorus effects in the verses. Also the stark drum & bass interplay is a typical feature.

Os Senhores Da Guerra is a fine Madredeus cover that shows how much better this album could have been, had it been sung in Portuguese. It gives the band more character. Besides, there's nothing above singing in your mother tongue, simply because it is usually the only language where you instinctively feel the inherent melodious power and the rhythmic flow of the words.

Yes, English is largely overrated :)