Moonspell

Hermitage

NAPALM Goth-metal masters still hold court.

Nearly 30 years into their career, Moonspell are showing little sign of fatigue. This is the Portuguese band’s twelfth studio album, and while you can hear occasional hints of earlier records such as Wolfheart and

The Butterfly Effect, in texture it relates most to 2015’s Extinct.

Led by the haunting vocals of Fernando Ribeiro, they have come up with dark, unrelentingly gloomy music, with Ricardo Amorim’s downtrodden guitar parts crucial to the sound. This is best illustrated on All Or Nothing, which mixes a simple melodic phrasing with a doomy atmosphere. There are occasional more metallic moments, such as on the robust title track, but much of the album is deliberately lowkey, and that generates a feeling of unease suited to the Moonspell mentality.

Hermitage is a welcome reminder of the hidden depths that can still be mined in the goth sphere. ■■■■■■■■■■