Moonspell - Extinct

Published March 07 2015

*=Staff's pick	Breathe (Until We Are No More)* Extinct* Medusalem Domina The Last Of Us Malignia Funeral Bloom A Dying Breed The Future Is Dark La Baphomette

Genre	Gothic Metal	Fernando Ribeiro	Vocals
Tracks	10	Ricardo Amorim	Guitar
Running time	46 Min.	Pedro Paixão	Guitar
Label	Napalm Records	Aires Pereira	Bass
Release	06 March 2015	Miguel Gaspar	Drums
Country	Portugal	Pedro Paixão	Keyboard
Producer	Jens Bogren
Similar artists	---

I haven't really listened properly to Portuguese metallers Moonspell since somewhere around the late 90's, so this is definitely a revival. I naturally don't even want to come near any kinds of comparisons, because at this present point, we have entered a whole new age and we surely live in a musical climate that's utterly changeable.

The band's 11th full length album chiefly shows pretty dark melodies, yet it's resplendent with a grandiose direction. The band is able to cross the lines to different types of metal music, meaning that the songs are very diverse within themselves, but without taking it too far and involving stuff that would be totally pointless to any kind of metal experience. It's rather captivating from time to time and sometimes it maybe leans a little too much to something that comes out somewhat computerized with an artificial keyboard orientation. The total performance comes out quite solid and particularly the overall sound picture is very much to my liking.

Most of the record's material is pretty good or at least kind of interesting to listen to a few times and I can't say that it leaves me unaffected in the end. Still I sort of question its relevance in this day and age a little bit. It also doesn't have the full power or the great capacity to make me able to embrace this creation entirely. At the end of the day I think that Extinct is a satisfactory effort though, but it doesn't really carry the capability of great songwriting, which of course is so crucial for a record's final outcome and thus I believe that 6 chalices is a fair rating.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
7	7	8	6	6

Summary
6 chalices of 10 - Tobbe