MOONSPELL Frontman Experiencing 'Metal Enlightenment'

MOONSPELL frontman Fernando Ribeiro has posted the following studio update on the band's official web site:

"Getting back after 8 years to the Woodhouse, and recording with Waldemar [Sorychta, producer] has been once again, quite a remarkable experience for me.

"Surprise was not the factor, because I know this man and is way to make things happen for already 10 years. But he pretty much turned out the challenge bigger than I was already expecting.

"As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter how much prepared you think you are, cause at the end you'll always have to go further than what your self limits allow you to, when you get to work with such an experienced producer, and skilled player, as Waldemar is. For the last 10 days I've experienced serious self pressure, wrist pain, mental disorder and finally... Metal enlightenment.

"This time me and Pedro took a different approach on our 'Memorial'. Instead of the usual open chording kind of stuff, we took the decision of having a more serious riffing attitude, towards the early '90s metal bands we use to worship, and still listen for more than decade. Of course, non of this did affect our signature. On the other way around, it opened more doors and expanded our music to a higher level of pure heavy darkness. As for the recording process things went different also. I did one or two songs a day splitting the rest of the session time with Pedro and Fernando which left me enough time to work on some unfinished lead guitars. That allowed everyone to participate for a different song everyday, instead of just getting ourselves bored to death waiting for our turn to record. Definitely raised everybody's moral, I guess.

"I took my ever faithful Gibson Les Paul to nail down all the rhythm and lead tracks, and once again it didn't let me down. All clean guitars were recorded with Pedro's Gibson Sg. and a seven string Ibanez tuned down to hell was used for some real heavy overdubbing. All of this went through Mesa Boogie amplification and a Zoom fx pedal patched to the mixing desk. This device helped me out to get a more mystical tonality that I like to have on softer parts.

"Last but not least, 'Memorial''s Mediterranean soul got captured by an acoustic Ibanez and an Alhambra classical guitar.

"After an overall listening, what I can say is that I'm truly satisfied with the result of these last 2 working years. Working for this record not only brought me back those musical guide lines that almost have been lost but also offered me a new path to follow for life in general. Quite rewarding, I must say.

"From now on I guess I'll leave it to you, I hope that all you can enjoy this record as much as I enjoyed writing for it and recording."

As previously reported, MOONSPELL recently inked a three-album deal with SPV/Steamhammer Records following their split with Century Media. The recording sessions for the group's new album will last from November 1 to November 27.

"Memorial" will contain around 8 to 10 new songs, including "Once It Was Ours!", "Blood Tells", "Sanguine", "Finisterra", "Upon the Blood of Men" and "At the Image of Pain". The material is being described by the group as "the best music we ever wrote together" and "an homage to the Nineties scene and bands," of which they became a strong symbol of. A tentative spring 2006 release is expected.

With regards to MOONSPELL's long-awaited first DVD, "Lunar Still/13 Years of Doom", most of the contents are ready to go into production but the release was delayed due to legal issues which are taking a long time to be ironed out. Century Media will release the DVD sometime next year. In addition, new live dates are being booked for the next festival season, as are one-off shows in Russia and Morocco.