Alpha Noir / Omega White

Alpha Noir/Omega White is Moonspell’s ninth studio album and marked a return to form for the band after the rather mediocre Night Eternal. A number of significant changes occurred between Night Eternal and Alpha Noir/Omega White. Aires Pereira was finally promoted to the status of full band member, after 8 long years of session work as live bass player, and Alpha Noir/Omega White represents his debut on a Moonspell’s full-length album. The band also changed record label, migrating to Napalm Records after SPV went bankrupt. Moreover, Moonspell put an end to their long-time collaboration with Waldemar Sorychta, enlisting Benny Richter (Caliban) for the pre-production of the record.

Most importantly, Alpha Noir/Omega White was written in full awareness of what went wrong with the previous record Night Eternal, which suffered mostly from lack of direction and coherence. Moonspell recognized early on in the process of writing Alpha Noir/Omega White that the new album showed the symptoms of the same malaise that had affected Night Eternal: two different types of songs seemed to emerge from the songwriting sessions. On the one hand, the band was writing songs that brought to the fore the most extreme nature of Moonspell’s music, harking back to their black/death metal origins. On the other hand, a bunch of songs seemed to pay homage to the Portuguese’s other main influence: gothic rock in the vein of The Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, and Type O Negative. Night Eternal swung unsatisfactorily between these two sides of Moonspell’s music, without finding a common middle ground. This time around the band came up with the plan to release a double-album, with each disc focusing on one of the two musical styles. The first album, Alpha Noir, represents the more extreme side of Moonspell’s music, while the second disc, Omega White, focuses on the band’s softer goth rock leanings.

Alas, the ambitious plan was partly botched by misunderstandings between the band and the record label. Rather than packaging the album as a double LP, Omega White was put out as a bonus disc to Alpha Noir, effectively relegating it to second-tier status. Moreover, only a special edition of the album contained the two discs, while the regular and most diffused edition only contained Alpha Noir (the physical edition with the two discs is virtually impossible to find nowadays). Despite this massive cock-up that prevented most listeners to fully appreciate the release in the way the band had planned it, Alpha Noir/Omega White does a lot of things right. Both discs contain a bunch of truly inspired tracks that have rightfully earned a place among the fan-favourite songs by the Portuguese band.

Alpha Noir brims with a heavy, epic sound that strikes a great balance between aggression and melody. Tracks like “Axis Mundi”, “Em Nome Do Medo” and “Opera Carne” are massive examples of Moonspell’s beautiful dark art. Ricardo Amorim’s guitar riffs are fast and razor-sharp, but never lose sight of melody, pushing the music closer to melodic death metal than anything the band have ever written before. Mike Gaspar’s drumming is as heavy as a ton of steel but always rich with fills and variations, ensuring a dynamic and varied performance that is well-synced with Pereira’s groovy basswork. As on the previous recent albums, Pedro Paixão divides his playing time between keyboards and guitars. This adds to the heaviness of the album, as the material is clearly written around the guitar licks rather than the keyboards, which are only used sparingly and to add atmosphere. Meanwhile, Fernando Ribeiro mostly uses his terrifying growls – sometimes to really stunning effects like on “Em Nome do Medo”, entirely sung in Portuguese. His clean baritone is used instead very occasionally on Alpha Noir, which is reasonable given the overall heaviness of the music here.

The second disc, Omega White, contains a very different set of tracks, far removed from heavy metal and much closer to the realms of goth rock. The tempo is slower, the guitars alternate between clean arpeggios and softly distorted melodic leads, and the keyboards are used much more prominently. Ribeiro uses almost exclusively his beautiful, dark clean vocals to deliver some great melodic hooks that turn to proper singalongs on tracks like “Whiteomega”, “Fireseason” and “A Greater Darkness”. Some tracks pay a very obvious tribute to Moonspell’s key influences like The Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, and Type O Negative (“White Skies”, “Herodisiac”, “Incantatrix”), in a way that actually makes me slightly uncomfortable, as some of these tracks could actually be covers of songs written one or two decades earlier by the aforementioned bands. Omega White is much more convincing when it carves its own path, harking back to the sound that Moonspell had developed on albums like Irreligious, Sin/Pecado, and especially Darkness and Hope, like they do on “Whiteomega”, “Fireseason” and “A Greater Darkness”.

This is actually the biggest limitation of Alpha Noir/Omega White: to these ears, both discs sound slightly derivative and too close for comfort to the band’s influences. A lot of the music on Alpha Noir could have been written by melo-death bands like Dark Tranquillity, and Omega White pays some very obvious tributes to the goth rock greats. Frankly, this was a bit shocking to me. Moonspell are a band that, since the very beginning, have developed a very unique and distinctive sound, which kept evolving album after album while always staying fresh and original. Alpha Noir/Omega White feels almost like an identity crisis for the band, as Moonspell seem to renounce to seek a unique sound and settle instead for music whose influences are way too easy to track down. Perhaps this is a side-effect of the choice of separating the two “sides” of Moonspell’s music across two separate discs: Moonspell’s uniqueness lies in the conjugation of the two extremes and the magic gets lost if one focuses only on one side at a time. Alpha Noir/Omega White album is nevertheless saved by a handful of very strong tracks (“Axis Mundi”, “Em Nome Do Medo”, “Opera Carne”, “Whiteomega”, “A Greater Darkness”), which show that, no matter what, bands as classy and talented as Moonspell (almost) always manage to land on their feet.

Bonus CDs with complete albums are something of a strange phenomenon, but they have been appearing more frequently. It is especially strange when the bonus album is significantly better than the main portion, as is the case with this double album of Portuguese gothic metal stalwarts Moonspell. It could be a simple matter of preference, as ‘Alpha Noir’ emphasizes the band’s extreme metal roots, while ‘Omega White’ is pretty much a full-on gothic rock album. While the band’s power was always in blending these genres, it is praiseworthy that they were inspired enough to come up with this much material that stays interesting almost all the way through.

The sharpest division between the two albums is undoubtedly in the vocal approach of Fernando Ribeiro. Apart from the verses of the title track, ‘Alpha Noir’ features his guttural, yet still somewhat comprehensible growls almost exclusively, while his beautiful, deep baritone takes center stage on ‘Omega White’. Still, there are compositional differences. Only a few songs could have been on either album, depending on the vocal approach. ‘Omega White’ is notably more atmospheric, with Pedro Paixão frequently adding keyboards in addition to guitar riffs, ending up sounding somewhat like a more guitar-heavy take on The Sisters Of Mercy and Fields Of The Nephilim.

Having said that, ‘Alpha Noir’ excels when its songs feature a healthy dose of atmosphere as well. ‘Em Nome Do Medo’ has all the riffy violence you could wish for, but also has some excellent keyboard textures and a beautiful, open middle section. ‘Versus’ is a lesson in layering and song construction, while the bombastic opener ‘Axis Mundi’ is an absolute highlight. It is also, together with the title track, the only song with notable gothic overtones. The cinematic instrumental closing track ‘Sine Missione’ is nothing short of spectacular.

‘Omega White’ is more memorable and consistent, however. Starting out with the gorgeous ‘Whiteomega’, it is obvious that we’re dealing with Moonspell’s goth sound here. This could be an issue for some fans, but the songs are so good that it is easy to forget about that. Its great chorus and the sensuality turn ‘Herodisiac’ into a classic that should not be reduced to bonus track status, while ‘Sacrificial’, ‘White Skies’ and ‘Fireseason’ are all expertly constructed, infectious goth rock tracks with big, beefy riffs, haunting melodies and an excellent vocal performance by Ribeiro. The atmosphere isn’t quite as dark and mysterious as on the 1996 classic ‘Irreligious’, but the best songs are equally impressive.

Ultimately, one could wonder if it would be wise to release this as two separate albums. Personally, I would have gotten rid of some of the weaker tracks (my suggestions: ‘Opera Carne’ and ‘Incantrix’) and released this as one excellent 70-minute album, which could work wonders for the dynamics as well, but I guess people who are only into the band’s heavier side could just settle for the normal edition without ‘Omega White’. However, that would mean missing out on Moonspell doing what they do best: crafting atmospheric songs with great vocals. It’s your choice.

(Note: the rating is based on 'Omega White' being a 90% album, while 'Alpha Noir' deserves around 80%)

Recommended tracks: ‘Herodisiac’, ‘Whiteomega’, ‘Alpha Noir’, ‘Axis Mundi’, ‘Sine Missione’

Originally written for my Kevy Metal weblog.

Alpha Noir/Omega White was Moonspell's return after several years of laying low. Since the several albums preceding it were all strong, consistent efforts which constantly evolved the band's signature "extreme gothic metal" style, it could be hoped the return after something resembling a short hiatus would be a return with style. And so it was.

Even though apparently the official version is that the main release here is Alpha Noir and Omega White is supposed to be only a bonus album, it seems it's quite widely treated as a double album (and that's how I see it myself), so that's how I'm going to review it. As expected by the title(s), this is essentially a "heavy and mellow" type of duo. Basically, Alpha Noir is one of the heaviest efforts released by Moonspell to date, which puts aside all of the band's more delicate tendencies and "beauty meets beast" style (like Luna or Scorpion Flower on preceding albums). The band goes full angry wolf on us with this one, and the result is far more than satisfying. Omega White, on the other hand, is the first record in a longer while (since Darkness and Hope would be my estimation) which puts emphasis on the more melodic and I even dare say poetic side of the band - no evil growls this time around, riffs are more rock than extreme metal by far, and the whole album is pretty much filled with melancholy.

I'm going to start with Alpha Noir. Basically, I like my metal heavy (rather than just loud), atmospheric and dramatic. This album does all three, and does it very, very well. The riffs are heavy and massive, meeting somewhere in the middle ground between gothic and black, even with a touch of death and thrash detectable every now and then. Most of the album stays in medium-fast tempos, fast enough to keep the record very intense, but slow enough to not become a monotonous mess and providing enough variety to remain interesting at all times. Some tracks, like the wild "Lickanthrope" or my personal favourite, the monumental "Grandstand", charge forward relentlessly, while the slowly building opener "Axis Mundi" or the more anthemic "Em Nome Do Medo" are slightly more modest in speed, adding a bit more weight and heaviness instead.

Overall variety is an extremely strong point of Alpha Noir, and despite the self-imposed heavy direction of the album (which does not always work as well as this, I'm thinking of Samael's "Above" for example) and essentially abandoning all the mellower and softer elements of their sound, it's still a very diverse collection of tracks constructing a well-flowing album. While for example "Axis Mundi" or "Love Is Blasphemy" are more traditional in their delivery with some more classic metal riffs, "Alpha Noir" or "Grandstand" have a slightly more modern touch: their massive, palm-muted riffing is followed by reverbed lead guitars, resulting in a far more epic sound. The dramatic effect is further amplified by Pedro Paixão's synths and orchestrations, used particularly well in the ending of "Versus" and "Em Nome Do Medo" or, again, the huge chorus of "Grandstand". The whole album has a tendency for big, monumental choruses, and since they are perfectly executed and leave a powerful impression, I can't complain about that in the slightest. And if that's not enough, there's the closing instrumental track "Sine Missione", which is almost entirely driven by a massive, marching riff accompanied by epic orchestral synths for a truly cinematic effect, that would work quite amazing for a movie soundtrack.

But then, while Alpha Noir definitely satisfies all my needs for epicness and dramatism, the core of the album is still straightforward, high-quality metal. The biggest highlight in this department is the title track, which instantly sets the tone with a heavy palm-muted riff, and only gets better from there, with the HUGE, thundering, furious chorus; the following "Em Nome Do Medo" is also possibly one of the heaviest and most intense tracks of the album despite its more moderate tempo and nearly anthemic character (also noteworthy for being entirely in the band's native Portuguese). Finally, "Lickanthrope" stands as by far the wildest and most straightforward piece on the album, even with some slight Wolfheart leanings.

On the other hand, the second half of the duo, Omega White, is something else entirely. The guitar work is a lot more melodic and not as massive in the mix, the keyboards have more to say, the growls which make about 90% of vocals on Alpha Noir are completely absent, and the rebellious, furious attitude of its "dark" counterpart is replaced by pure melancholy with some occasional more upbeat sections. As on many albums before, guest female vocalists also appear on some tracks (although in a harmony vocal role rather than lead), and even acoustic guitars make an appearance on several occasions. Starting in a straightforward fashion: it's no doubt a very worthy release, but I don't find it to be as strong and consistent as Alpha Noir. While there I can pinpoint two personal highlights (if you haven't noticed yet, "Grandstand" and the title track) with the whole remainder of the album being on a very similar and very high level, Omega White is slightly more inconsistent.

The opener "Whiteomega" sets the tone for the album very well, being a slower, very melodic track with an emotional chorus. Some songs are a little heavier, however; "White Skies", "Herodisiac" and "Sacrificial" are the main "rockers" here, slightly faster and heavier than the rest and with some infectiously catchy choruses. "White Skies" carries some obvious gothic rock influence (in both instrumentation and vocals), but "Herodisiac" stands out the most of the three with its energy, particularly in the chorus. However, personally I lean more towards the softer, more melancholic material on the album; "Fireseason" is one of my personal highlights, charming with its slightly folky acoustic guitar riff (later reprised with distortion) and one of the best vocal performances on the album. "New Tears Eve" is possibly the most minimalistic and keyboard-driven piece on the album, and then there's "Incantatrix", which I find plain confusing - the only song on the entire double album which I find really... strangely written and executed, with a very chaotic chorus. This is also my main complaint regarding Omega White - I think some parts could have been realised a little better, particularly the vocals sometimes do not seem to mix that well. "Incantatrix" is the most problematic, with the multiple vocal layers not going very well together, and the whole track feeling quite incoherent, particularly the transition between the two parts of the chorus.

The closer, "A Greater Darkness", is a different thing entirely. At over seven minutes of length it's one of the longest Moonspell pieces to date, but is going to remain noteworthy for other reasons, namely how powerful, emotional and atmospheric it is. Immediately setting the mood with a mournful guitar melody (which also returns at the end) and some wonderful piano work, it also contains possibly the most incredible, emotional vocal performance of Fernando Ribeiro to date, and just everything about the song emanates sadness - sincere and true, with even a bit of doom detectable in the chorus riff. It's essentially the most human incarnation of the band in history, and closes the album on an immensely powerful note.

Returning to the bigger picture and speaking of vocals, as a whole they're definitely one of the (many) strong points of the double album. Fernando Ribeiro is one of the most unique vocalists in metal, and as a whole his performance here is one of his best in the history of Moonspell. His growls are massive, furious, merciless and commanding, while his clean vocals are warm, pleasant and emotional; they appear only briefly on Alpha Noir, but are allowed to shine fully on Omega White. The second layer building the two albums is the guitar work. Whether building a furious charge in "Alpha Noir" or playing beautiful, mournful leads in "A Greater Darkness", Ricardo Amorim (sometimes also with the assistance of the keyboardist Pedro Paixão on rhythm) does an amazing job, displaying some great creativity and diversity, and being the main reason why every one of the seventeen songs in here has a personality of its own. There are also quite a few solos spread throughout, and his soloing style tends to have a dramatic feel to it; once again I'll praise my two personal highlights here, namely "Grandstand" with a monumental lead assisted by synths evolving into a brief but powerful solo, and of course "A Greater Darkness", which contains the same intense emotion as the entirety of the track and in my opinion is possibly the greatest guitar solo in Moonspell's discography to date.

And all of it is constructed upon the rhythm section, consisting, as usual, of Aires Pereira on bass and Mike Gaspar on drums - while they do not steal the show most of the time, they know how to carry the music forward, whether it requires a thunderous, charging rhythm on Alpha Noir, or the more subtle, sophisticated playing on Omega White. Some of the most monumental moments of Alpha Noir are built upon the drums, such as my two favourite, discussed to death already examples of the choruses of "Grandstand" and the title track, and then we have for example the soft, refined drumming in "Fireseason" which gives the track that slight folky feel together with the acoustic guitar. Aires Pereira, on the other hand, gets to shine the most in the amazing intro to "Em Nome Do Medo". Seriously, more bands should do bass intros, it sets the tension at ultra-high level since the beginning. And the bass is actually audible most of the time, which is not as common as it should be.

Which brings us to the final point, being the mix and production. Basically, it's really, really good, and highlights the strengths of both albums perfectly - Alpha Noir sounds fucking massive and heavy, with a sound which is tight and modern but also sharp and gritty, while Omega White is more subtle, guitars are slightly further back, giving more space to keyboards and vocals. I do, however, have one important complaint, which is the loudness of the mix - both albums are unfortunately a bit too compressed and show signs of the "loudness war", which I find particularly confusing since the rest of the production is genuinely good. If this did not happen, both albums would sound literally amazing.

To conclude this monster of a review, Alpha Noir/Omega White is a successful take on the "black and white" theme and rather allowed the band to display their strengths in both distinct styles they're normally known for, rather than show that they're incapable of separating them. Personally, Alpha Noir is my preferred of the two, as it's truly an impressive display of power, with excellent metal songwriting and riffs meeting theatricality and dramatism, but Omega White, despite some slight issues and inconsistencies and not all songs having such a strong impact, is still a very worthy addition to the band's discography, particularly looking at the fact that the two preceding albums mostly leaned to the heavier side anyway.

If I had to rate the albums separately:
Alpha Noir - 90%
Omega White - 78%
The resulting math is simple.

In a time when CD sales are down and almost everyone in the music industry is convinced that the album format is dead, it’s quite refreshing to see bands putting more effort into their limited edition releases. But while groups like Star One and Symphony X are merely adding on four or five bonus tracks to make double albums that aren’t exactly mandatory listens in the grand scheme of things, Moonspell’s ninth studio release plays with the format. In addition to being the band’s first album since 2008’s Night Eternal, Alpha Noir/Omega White shows off both sides of their style and reinforces their status as one of the most unique goth metal bands around.

As indicated by the title, Alpha Noir is the leading half of the release and the one that metalheads will be quicker to embrace. However, this half is set apart by removing just about all of the group’s goth influences and keeping close to their extreme metal roots. It goes without saying that the resulting half features some of their most straightforward tracks to date.

Going along with the style, the band members’ performances are quite aggressive with the guitars at a near constant charge and the vocals being almost entirely delivered in a borderline black metal rasp. Like every other Moonspell release, the other instrumentalists do get their opportunities to shine as the drums are prominent in spots like “Love Is Blasphemy,” the bass has a steady rumble on tracks like “Em Nome Do Medo” and “Grandstand,” and the keyboards stay on for ambience and even gets brief standout point on “Versus” and “Sine Missione.”

Alpha Noir’s heavier styling makes for some fun listening, but the bonus collection of songs that make up the Omega White half is where things really start to get entertaining. Predictably, Omega White serves as an effective contrast to its darker twin as the extreme metal is dropped in a favor of a vaguely heavy brand of goth rock inspired by, among others, Type O Negative and The Sisters Of Mercy.

True to form, the performances take on a different approach for this patch of tunes. Most notably, the vocals go for a clean but deep style in the vein of Andrew Eldritch and touches of female vocals provide some effective backing harmonies. In addition, the guitars and bass are more melodic with the occasional crunch, the drums are slightly scaled back, cellos pop up on occasion, and the keyboards lead many melodies with their smooth piano and synth work.

And while there isn’t a bad song on either half, there is no denying that the goth rock leanings allow for more emphasis on songwriting skill. “Herodisiac” is my favorite song by far as the upbeat tempos and catchy vocal layering are guaranteed to stay in your head for days. In addition, “White Skies” works with a solid mid-tempo groove and “Sacrificial” brings in a slight metal flavor with its muscular guitar and blasphemous lyrics. “New Tears Eve” is also worth noting as its restrained vocals, somber keyboards, and steady beat give it a creepy resemblance to “One Second” by Paradise Lost…

Moonspell may never top the greatness of Wolfheart, but this album does show the album utilizing the two sides of their sound with strong results. It really makes me wish more bands would give this dual format a try. With that said, each side doesn’t stand quite as well without the other so getting any version with less than both sides on it is really selling yourself short in my opinion. Either way, metalheads and goths along with the usual Moonspell listeners should be able to expect great things from this release.

Current Highlights (Disc 1):
“Lickanthrope,” “Versus,” “Alpha Noir,” “Opera Carne,” and “Love Is Blasphemy”

Current Highlights (Disc 2):
“White Skies,” “New Tears Eve,” “Herodisiac,” and “A Greater Darkness"

First of all, I'd like to say I used to hate Moonspell. My first contact with them was their Wolfheart album, which gave me a really bad impression of their work. Instrumentally-wise they were not too bad, but the aspect that annoyed me the most was Fernando Ribeiro. His screams were actually OK, but his cleans were among the worst I've heard. Still having faith on them, i gave a listen to their Darkness and Hope album: once again it failed. While Fernando has improved a lot between these records, their sound still was lacking something. This “something” I actually found on Night Eternal.

It was actually impressive seeing a band evolving that much. Their darker, heavier impression of Type O Negative was simply awesome, combining the gothic sensibilty and extreme agression with such grace and balance. And the worst aspect turned into one of their best: Fernando has taken a extremely good improvement. While his growls and screams had varied in range and intensity, his cleans became really pleasant to hear, since he has perfected his delivery (and his cleans are somewhat a Akerfeldt/Steele amalgamation). I loved NE, so I was eagerly waiting for a new record. Alpha Noir/ Omega White is a double album with a very yin/yang-esque concept. While the first is a crushing slither of powerful and heavy songs, the first is a collection of more melodic, romantic and accessible songs.

Alpha Noir, the first disc is a even darker and heavier progression of Night Eternal, wher our Portuguese fellas play some of their thrashiest songs ever (have you ever heard of Gothic Thrash?). It took me actually more than one listen to digest the work properly. The music is full of dark ambiances, hard-to-follow soundscapes, a pretty opressive feeling that surrounds you. Axis Mundi, the first song from AN is an absurd song. An extremely dark and heavy song, starting with some of the most hypnotizing music ever (and really impressive drumming) and then going boom: excellent riffing, and some of the best growling I've heard. A noticeable event is the lesser presence of keyboards: while they played a more pronounced role in NE, they serve much more as backing atmospheres during some passages, but we get a nice piano interlude with Fernando cleans.

Em Nome do Medo is another killer song. One the few moments Moonspell sings in portuguese. It's a pretty dark song too, with some very good basslines, beautiful guitar leads and keyboard backings. Fernando gives another stellar performance here: his screams and growls sound incredible on this one. This song has awesome lyrics, and its a proof that its possible to Heavy Metal in another language than english. And in my opinion, Moonspell should do more songs in portuguese.

These two are the best songs from the first disc, but all of the songs are very good. While most of the songs follow the “heavier Night Eternal” aesthetic, with nice riffs, excelent soloing, and awesome vocals, it gets a bit tiring at times, due to the relative lack of variation (especially in tempo, with Licanthrope having the fastest passages of the álbum). Another songs worth of noticing are Grand Stand, a very diverse-sounding tune and Sine Missione, a five-minute dark-as-hell instrumental with a much greater presence of keyboards than everything else.

After this 40-minute not-allowed-to breath dark ride we land on Omega White, a much more melodic and why not, commercial album. Whiteomega starts setting the mood to the second disk: a much more noticiable presence of keyboards, Fernando's crooning and slower tempos. On OW, Moonspell introduces fine elements, like the female vocals (a bit annoying, in my opinion) on the aforementioned White Skies and in Herodisiac, a track which has a backing celli section too, or the acoustic guitars on Fireseason, this one being one of the best cuts from the second disk. While the mood is certainly comparable to the likes of HIM, Entwine or a “poppier” Type O Negative (October Rust and the likes), it's slightly darker than these ones, showing once again Moonspell unique twist on Gothic Metal.

New Tears Eve is somewhat the cutest moment of the album, with Entwine-like keyboards in the intro and the falsettos on the chorus (think of Kenny Hickey and Josh Silver's backing vocals on Type O Negative). It moves with such a grace and delicacy, and here we have a simple, yet pretty guitar solo.

Incantatrix is another cute song, with the nature sounds on the begginning brings Type O Negative's Green Man to mind. While the female vocals would get on my nerves a bit on the other songs, like White Skies or Herodisiac, actually they're not annoying on this one. Herodisiac, by the way is the weakest track on the record, just don't having any appeal to me, and its chorus melody is quite annoying.

Yet, the best track of both records are the last one: A Greater Darkness. It's the longest track, clocking at 7:24, and it's where the things get serious: here the portuguese lads give their really best: the encanting guitar leads, the floaty keyboard backing, Fernando romantic crooning, beautiful string passages, delicate piano playing... It wouldn't feel out of place on Type O Negative's October Rust. Everything the track offers is simply marvelous and magic.
It holds the spot of the my favorite Moonspell song.

Being myself both a fan of more extreme and melodic stuff, I enjoyed this record very much. While the concept of “We're gonna make a heavy album and a melodic album” may be formulaic to some people, it actually worked for me. The menacing Alpha Noir and its companion, the graceful Omega White are both very good aquisitions to a metal collection. As a whole, I'd say Alpha Noir amused me more, but both records deserve a 85% rating.

It's actually amusing the fact I used to dismiss Moonspell so much and eventually they become one of my favorite bands. Again, this shows Moonspell increasing improvement. While they really used to be a bunch TON wannabes that never could match their work, Moonspell, with very hard work, managed to break out from their musical prison, found their sound and turned to be one of the leading forces on Gothic Metal.

PS: “The blade that kisses my nape”, the title of this review, is english for “A lâmina que me beija a nuca”, a quote from the first song, Axis Mundi.

The new limited edition of Moonspell's "Alpha Noir / Omega White" output represents the two faces of the band, their two pounding hearts, Portugal's best metal band's yin and yang.

Alpha Noir is a dark and pretty heavy record that should please to those who liked the early years of the band with releases such as Anno Satanae, Under The Moonspell and Wolfheart. Fernando Ribeiro only employs growls, shouts and raw dark chants on this first disc. The music hits the same nerve and features some quite fast thrash riffs but also more melodic parts.

The opener "Axis Mundi" varies from harmonic dark chants over slightly blackened growls and musically from thrash riffs in the first minutes to very melodic and inoffensive parts in the beautiful bridge. The opening moments even make me think of Judas Priest's epic "Loch Ness". This song offers maybe the highest degree of diversity on both records and is an excellent song but simply doesn't fit as an opener. It's rather hard to digest and should have resumed the album as a closing track but not as a first strike. The first single "Lickanthrope" is much more simple and maybe too simple after the opener and can't truly convinvce me.

After this controversial first impression, the best tracks can be found later on that disc. The first highlight after a mellow start is the portuguese "En Nome Do Medo". It has a dominating bass line, a very apocalyptic atmosphere and is easily the most intense track on this first record. It's still a quite catchy song even though it's one of the hardest tracks the band has released in years. The guitar solo is very emotional, the bridge quite dark but with catchy riffs and loads of keyboard sounds reminding me a little bit of Crematory.

Another highlight is the quite progressive "Grandstand", a slow to mid paced track that creates a haunting atmosphere and works once again a lot with dark bass guitar tones, melodic doom passages, an excellent heavy metal guitar solo, an amazing middle part with acoustic guitars and Ribeiro's emotional screams. The track sounds like a slowed down version of Dimmu Borgir plus some melancholic elements that could come from Novembers Doom, Paradise Lost or The Old Dead Tree which are three very good references.

In the end, this first part is amongst the hardest material the band has released since their first regular studio output "Wolfheart" and should definitely please to fans of the old days. Some tracks build up a haunting atmosphere and convince with almost progressive ideas but there are also a couple of fillers on this release. Some tracks might eventually grow and request a lot of attention such as "Versus" with its excellent and disturbing guitar work reminding me of Voivod. On the other side, the harder stuff such as the first single "Lickanthrope" or the title track "Alpha Noir" can only partially convince and lack of something truly gripping or original that might make them stand out.

Omega White is the opposite of Alpha Noir. It is a very appeasing record with loads of piano melodies, acoustic guitar passages and only clean vocals. This record might please to gothics and those modern fans that rather liked the calmer stuff of the band and not their black metal roots or their progressive era. On the other side, this record has the same problem as the first disc. The opener "Whiteomega" is surely diversified and contains loads of interesting ideas but it can't fully convince as an opener. It's still easier to approach as "Axis Mundi" and fits to the upcoming tracks on this second half of Moonspell's new release. The single "White Skies", as "Lickanthrope" on the other disc, is one of the weaker songs on this disc and would rather fit on a record by The 69 Eyes. In comparison to the first disc, this album is almost too soft at some points and undeniably commercially orientated. "Fireseason" is something I might expect from bands such as HIM but not from Moonspell. Commercially orientated gothics might aodre this song but fans of old Moonspell might easily feel disappointed. I must though admit that this track has a lot of single potential and should have been chosen to represent this album instead of "White Skies" while "En Nome Do Medo" should have taken the place of "Lickanthrope" on the first disc.

The first highlihts of the record also come in the middle of the record. "Herodisiac" employs some strings that make me think of Apocalyptica and the track develops a very melancholic atmosphere. The support of female background vocals and haunting piano melodies underlines this attempt. This is a truly beautiful gothic ballad. It reminds me once again of The 69 Eyes but it has a lot more magic and variation than "White Skies". The next track "Incantatrix" simply employs loads of beautiful melodies and has a big commercial potential. The track has a peaceful atmosphere with beautiful piano melodies, soft guitar harmonies, appeasing drum patterns and very relaxed vocals. It's a track to wake up to in the morning or to calmly make love to. It has a very positive vibe and a light side even though it contains some gothic trademarks. This track is definitely a highlight on this second disc and I was convinced this would be the best song on both records until I heard the final track after another solid one called "Sacrificial". The album closer "A Greater Darkness" simply is a perfect way to conclude this record. It simply resumes everything this second disc stands for. It's a calm hommage to a fallen friend with almost jazzy moments featuring soft bass guitars, calm piano melodies, some string passages and haunting vocals. It’s hard to deide whether “Incantatrix” or “A Greater Darkness” is better as they are both sending shivers down my spine but I would maybe go for the closing track after a first couple of tries. I have no doubt that many tracks on this second disc will even grow on me in the near future.

Concerning the second disc, it sounds more coherent than the first one. It contains maybe one or two more or less convincing tracks in the beginning but the rest of the record has a very appeasing, calm and almost spiritual flow. It's the band's most introspective work and contains many magic moments with piano melodies, string passages and soft female background vocals. This album has not much to do with metal music and sounds like a calmer and more progressive hommage to bands such as Paradise Lost, Type 0 Negative or The 69 Eyes.

In the end, both disc have more ups than downs and are worth to be shared with the rest of the world. The first one would get a rating around eighty percent from me while the second disc is more atmospheric, coherent and profound and would come to a rating between ninety and even ninety-five percent. Both discs remind me of the music of the late eighties and early nineties. The first disc employs thrash and black metal elements from that time while the second one focusses on the growing gothic mouvement and also some electronic and pop elements from that time. Both records have a nostalgic feeling without sounding too old fashioned. The band still knows how to write catchy tracks with magic moments, especially on the second disc. As both records contrast very well and represent everything one can like about Moonspell, I might pardon for a couple of fillers and too nostalgic moments, add two or three points and come to a fair rating of ninety percent. This album is full of potential, has many details that may grow on me and is without a doubt a highlight in the band’s discography.

I somehow regret that the band didn't release both albums in a separate way as only truly faithful and open-minded will adore both discs. The metal community might rather stick to "Alpha Noir" while the gothic fan base will prefer "Omega White". I really give you the advice to check out both sides of the band. This release is some sort of best of what Moonspell has always stand for since their early years.

It's been a few years since Moonspell's last album Night Eternal, that album was in my opinion one of their best, and showed them continuing the progress of Memorial, as they managed to mix gothic elements with a far more aggressive black metal sound then what they had done in their past. Both of those album ended up being some of their best, although I am a fan of all their material (even The Butterfly Effect) I liked the very organic and dark sound they had created. When I found out they had released a new album this year I bought it as soon as I could and was very excited to hear what they would come out with now. Moonspell's never been a band to stay in one place, constantly moving their sound around in different ways, though never sacrificing their underlying concepts.

First off it should be stated that this album is a double album, I'm not sure if that's only for the special edition I have or not, but I am going to review it as such, as without the second disc this album would make less sense. Why this is is simple, the first disc, titled Alpha Noir is made up of Moonspell's thrashiest work yet, with Fernando using his well done screams throughout, some elements of keyboards, and a lot of heavy guitar riffs mixing their by now trademark sound with thrashy and old school riffing. This is great, but it leaves out one essential from Moonspell's arsenal, being the deep and dark clean vocals of Fernando, which are only used here and there.

The second disc, Omega White is a complete left turn from the first album, being made up of their most melodic work since Darkness and Hope. The metal maniacs who were pleased by the first disc may not enjoy this one as much, but it is made up of dark melancholic moods and highly gothic sounding songs. So what Moonspell has done has been to separate the two sides of their sound on to two albums, both of which combined equals into around 80 minutes of material. I have to say that there is no bad song on here, each song is at least listenable, some are better then others of course.

For a bit more in depth coverage read on.

The first disc's sound is similar to their last album in regards to production. Guitars have a very good sound, with an equalization that features enough middle range to keep their sound heavy yet distinguishable. The riffing on tracks like "Axis Mundi" is very thrash influenced, mixed with the type of riffs we know from Moonspell. Same goes for a song like the title track, which also has some ideas similar to their last album, just minus the heavy keyboards.

This album goes very far away from the symphonic sound of their last two albums. Keyboards when used are only used for a bit of background ambience. Most of the album is made up of songs that sound like they spent time in their rehearsal room blasting away at them for a while. There is less black metal elements (which were possibly inspired by their re-recording of their early work on Under Satanae) meaning don't expect too many blast beats here.

The drums are recorded well, I get less of a triggered sense from them then from most modern metal. Mike Gaspar is the drummer here, and I believe he's been their drummer for a bit, though I haven't been keeping up with that. He does a good job, nothing too outstanding, although I am a sucker for the kind of intricate tom work he does here and there (not as much on earlier albums like The Antidote though).

The bass is given its sonic place is the mix, though it isn't as focused on as some of their earlier albums, it mainly works to fill in the sound as the guitars move across the fretboard.

Fernando's vocals on Alpha Noir are mostly his screams, and man what screams he's got. Fernando is up there as one of my favorite vocalists in metal, mainly because he's got a great clean voice and a great scream. Very full throated, he sounds like a raging beast out to kill. The lyrics he's belting out seem to focus on a continued apocalyptic concept as their last album. This time I get the sensation of aeonic change inherent in concepts like Crowley's Aeon of Horus, and a sense of rebellion against the morals and mores of the world as it stands today.

"Behold the bridegroom cometh, in the middle of the night, behold the rats who follow him, why do they want our destruction?... Behold the gloom bride coming, riding the tail of the star, beware the time of the kill."

"So many ways out there to thread and yet we choose to turn back, so many choices we could have made and yet we choose to kneel, thousands I wish to corrupt, their sons I seek to mislead, damned forever be your dreams, I reject my destiny."

So overall a very fine album, I wouldn't say it's my favorite of theirs, as I liked the last two a bit more due to their atmospheres. Regardless this album is very good and very worthy of the Moonspell name.

Now onto Omega White:

If Alpha Noir was the beginning and the day of destruction and revolution, Omega White is the after birth of death and the night time, when the mind looks back at the events done. There is a deep melancholy throughout, which is particularly reinforced by the presence of two songs dedicated to the memories of those passed on.

The production is similar to the last album, so not much needs to be said there. The songwriting is very different however. Rather then aggressive and thrash influenced songs, we find their most melodic set of songs yet. Every song is done with Fernando's baritone voice front and center. The guitars play a lot of melodic leads throughout, and keyboards have a bigger place here then before. In a way this set of songs reminds me a bit of Tiamat's work on albums like Prey, which in my book isn't a bad thing.

Out of the 8 songs on here, there are a few which strike me better then others, but there isn't anything I would skip over. "Herodisiac" is probably my favorite on here, featuring a clean guitar intro building with a cello over the top before going into the song proper which is very outright goth metal. The verses feature the cello again, which is a nice complement to Fernando's voice.

"And then the wine as if his blood, and then the cracks as if was cruelty, by her lips his words are swallowed, her tongue a blizzard, no reflection in the mirror, no resistance! The skin gave the lamb away, the stars are hiding in the shade, sweat running down the riverbed, tonight I sleep in the chamber of the queen."

I am using this song as an example, other songs like "White Omega", "New Tears Eve" and "Sacrificial" are also my favorites, but the whole album is listenable with nothing I'd skip.

The lyrics bring to mind not only melancholy, but elements that bring to my mind the book "The Red Goddess" by Peter Grey, about Babalon. Fernando's lyrics focus around love and desire and it's place within apocalypse, as well as loss and transformation. Or at least that's my understanding of them.

In the end I find this album to be appealing, particularly after the attack of the previous disc. Like I said it is the night side of the other album, and it strikes me that the songs are parallel to each other displaying similar aspects of the concept behind the record.

Before we sum up, the packaging must be mentioned. At least for the special edition, we are given a very nice hard package digibook with the lyrics attached in between the two discs, each album is given a section, and also different artwork on either side of the digibook. So you could potentially treat each side differently. The artwork is excellent, and fitting to the moods of each album, and serves to help the conception of the recording to speak for itself.

When I found out this was a double album, I was a little hesitant, as I was hoping that it wouldn't contain a lot of filler. Instead the whole idea of a double album here is used to contrast two sides of Moonspell's sound. This being said, I liked the way they integrated their sound on the last two albums, which felt more organically whole. On here each album is great, but without the other I don't think this album would have worked as well.

In the end the wait was worth it, Moonspell have released another excellent recording, which in 80 minutes does more than many bands have done in their careers. It is well worth the money of the Moonspell fan, although for someone new to Moonspell I might lead them to an earlier album as an introduction.

The only reason I haven't given this album a higher rating is I don't feel it's as great as their last two albums, despite that, this album is a worthy release.