20 Years of Darkness And Hope

As I'm not so patiently waiting for the new Moonspell album "Hermitage" to come out later this month, I decided to take a trip back to 2001, and write about their album "Darkness And Hope" in this, it's twentieth year. They've grown so much since then, and evolved their sound immensely, but wow this is still such a great album.

The album starts right off with its title track, which is a great introduction to the album. It really sets the mood and the tone. I feel like other than "Darkness And Hope" the only other songs really talked about on this album are "Devilred" and "Nocturna", which is really a shame. They are both great songs, but there's so many other amazing tracks that I feel like are severely underrated. "Heartshaped Abyss" and "Ghostsong" are two absolutely gorgeous songs. The bassline in the beginning of "Made of Storm" is a rare showcasing of Don Aire's talent.

Then we have the three covers, "Os Senhores Da Guerra" originally by Madredeus, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division, and "Mr.Crowley" originally by the one and only Ozzy Osbourne. "Os Senhores" is a fantastic and pretty heavy song, it's also the only track on the album that is in Portuguese, which is something I always love to hear. That Joy Division cover is absolutely amazing. It takes a lot of elements from the original, but amps them up and makes it a much more exciting and interesting song. I kind of find the original to be a little boring, but the Moonspell cover is absolutely fantastic. And then we have "Mr.Crowley". One of those songs that so many different bands over the years have covered and many of them butchered. Moonspell did what I feel is the best cover of "Mr.Crowley" that I've heard. It takes what was already a super badass piece, and makes it into a goth piece of absolute beauty. It's just so good. I love it.

This still holds up as an incredible album. It's really interesting to go back and see how much Moonspell has grown over time. Themes of love, pain, fascination with darkness, and such have carried over into their newer music, but their focus on mystical and mythological references has shifted to a much more real world focus. Their sound has also grown. I feel like as people they've changed and matured. But there's no denying that "Darkness And Hope" is an iconic era of Moonspell that should not be forgotten. ~Gangis

Photocredit: Album cover art from "Darkness And Hope" by Moonspell on Century Media Records