Having had to suddenly amend their plans for their touring schedule tonight’s line up is slightly different. Though scheduled to tour with Septic Flesh the band unfortunately we’re unable to perform with Moonspell so tonight’s bill has been condensed, that doesn’t mean anything has been compromised however.
With only two bands this evening Lacrimas Profundere take to the stage, if anything for this band it’s more of a blessing. Giving them the larger allotted time of one hour to perform their material. The slightly sleepy Underworld is immediately awoken with the arrival of the band on stage. Their brand of German gothic metal is greeted eagerly by the slowly filling room of the Underworld, putting on a fantastic show it makes the crowd soon forget about the unfortunate situation for the reason of today’s missing support along with the reason behind today’s change of date.
With the unexpected announcement that the show would have to be moved due to a bereavement in the Moonspell family, luckily the show was not postponed entirely but instead just moved over to another day. Given the air of sadness surrounding the reasons for tonight’s unscheduled performance Moonspell explode onto the stage defiant and staring into the face of adversity. Kicking the set off with single “Breathe (Until We Are No More)” followed quickly by one of the highlights of the show the driving riff of title track “Extinct” the crowd instantly greet the band. Performing a lot of material from the new record you would think that there might be a few stragglers who might not know the melancholic paroles but when “The Last Of Us” bursts forth with it’s hard rock tinged chorus the crowd sing everyword! Treating us to more new material, we systematically work our way through Extinct, leaving only a couple of songs before the band return to their darker origins. With tracks like the fan favourite “Opium” echoing throughout the walls of The Underworld. Fernando‘s stage presence is monstrous, the front man truly is the band’s mysterious cloak. Retaining the sense of wonder and mystery as he prowls the stage throughout the evening with the crowd in the palm of his hand. Though a particular highlight is when guitarist Ricardo Amorim is showered with what looks like foam during the scintillating guitar solo to “Medusalem” , highlighting the guitarist even more so due to his recent news, the crowd are firmly behind the man. The former Fado experience that we had spoken about with drummer Mike truly is prevalent in tonight’s poignant set. Particularly in the light of recent events making the solo that much more touching.
It is admirable how staunchly ready the band are to take on anything, with their unique brand of metal. Their sound is also pitch perfect tonight, hitting all the right notes, both proverbial and musical. Keyboardist Piedro embraces the band instead of looking slightly lost and lack lustre as keyboardists can do in a band situation. Contrary to the orchestral arrangements in the bands set list , tonight’s set is a relatively simple one, no grandiose gimmicks, no frills. The band play good solid music, now given a slightly less hectic schedule the band embrace The Underworld. Performing even more material from their new album, “The Future Is Dark” and “Funeral Bloom” before we’re thrown back into the earlier years of Moonspell with three classic tracks from their Wolfheart era. Commanding the legions frontman Fernando rises to his Christ like pose to announce the arrival of “Vampiria” greeted with the glee from the crowd the band solemnly begin their trio of Wolfheart classics. Followed by “Alma Maeter” and “Ataegina”, what Moonspell have undoubtedly proven tonight however is that not only is their new material good enough to stack up to the classics it is also varied and oh so fresh. With no song sounding quite the same, you can see their plethora of genres shining through. Stating that “I don’t like this pretend walk away thing that is an encore but it seems to be a thing” before the band leave the stage only to return once more delving deeper into their back catalogue to Irreligious times, giving the final push with “Mephisto” and a truly mesmerising “Full Moon Madness” the band perform fantastically.
If one thin is for certain this small club show is a testament to their fierce fan base. Hailing from Portugal the band may not be miles away from home but for tonight with the entire room breathing in every haunting word, it most definitely feels that whatever presence, whatever emotion that is felt through their fans is truly the bands home and tonight they have proven that every single one of their fans and even the working onlookers are indeed under the spell.
Moonspell’s brand new album Extinct is out now via Napalm Records.
