After paying homage to the past in the form of 'Under Satanae', MOONSPELL are very much back in the present with their latest full length album 'Night Eternal'. MOONSPELL are continually experimenting with their sound and hence have covered quite a few genres at one time or another from their Black metal roots flirting with heavier Death metal influences before becoming an influential force of Gothic and Doom metal scenes alike. The question must be, can they improve upon the well received Memorial of 2006?

The album starts well with the first track 'At Tragic Heights' providing an epic atmosphere with Arabic style singing in a somewhat lengthy intro; thankfully you don't have to wait too long and once the song kicks in you are assaulted by a wall of noise provided by Mike Gaspar’s heavy as hell drumming combined with Fernando Ribeiro’s deep but never quite growling vocals all held together by solid mid tempo riffing.

Next is the title track 'Night Eternal' which is another solid track. An atmospheric start which is progressively drowned out by Gaspar’s drumming until Ribeiro takes centre stage. Unmistakably MOONSPELL in its composition, it follows a well trodden path and because of this the track comes off a bit formulaic and is eclipsed by more engaging tracks later on.

Moving swiftly on to the fourth track of the album 'Scorpion Flower', this has to be one of the highlights of the album. With a strong Gothic metal vibe this track features Ribeiro’s duet with Anneke van Giersbergen ex-The Gathering vocalist coupled with such a catchy melody it’s easy to see songs like this opening up MOONSPELL's appeal to a wider audience.

Next up is 'Moon in Mercury' with a bit more pace to it to wake anyone up who dared to fall asleep listening to 'Scorpion Flower'! Their's some good guitar work here, in particular the guitar solo mid song which just isn’t long enough for my liking.

Another little gem is track seven 'Dreamless (Lucifer and Lilith)', echoing vocals and a softer more subdued guitar and drum sound lets the keyboards come through. The song has a certain PARADISE LOST Draconian Times feel to it, making for an enjoyable listen.

The last noteworthy track is 'Spring of Rage'. A similar formula seen earlier with 'Scorpion Flower' followed by the faster paced 'Moon in Mercury' is used again to great effect, 'Spring of Rage' certainly delivers the blasts of pace continually shifting between these and the slower tempo create a good dynamic to the track.

Overall a compelling album, MOONSPELL is creatively on top of their game. Plenty of powerful riffs and at times absorbing melodies more than enough to keep any fan happy for a long time. Forget daylight give me Night Eternal!

Rating: 3.9/5.0

Alexander Shaw

Release date: 19th May 2008