Interview:	MOONSPELL
Title:	Pit instead of fruit

The vast kaleidoscope of Gothic Metal – whilst others are strategically becoming ever more theatrical, opulent and spectacular, the Portuguese pioneers of the genre have adopted a much more restrained, even minimalist approach, making their new album „Far From God“ a thoroughly authentic and distinctive listening experience.

When frontman Fernando Ribeiro is confronted with this at the outset – along with a deliberate reference to Sisters Of Mercy and Type O Negative – it seems to have a thoroughly soothing effect on him.

The new release sounds wonderfully unique, timeless, minimalist, yet still true to the band's roots. How did this rather minimalist style come about?

„Thanks! Means the world to us! It has been a conscious decision to have an album with less layers that could let the “magic” of music speak for itself, without many production tricks or a wall of sound. Back to basics, if you wish. In the 90’s Type O and Sisters really changed our compass from black heavy metal to a certain gothic mood and I agree there’s something timeless about that sound, a dark signature we try to create with Far from God, that is 100 % a Moonspell album, dark, daring, unafraid of delivering beautiful songs and creating memories.“

How has Moonspell's musical style evolved since the album predecessor in your own opinion, and what do you particularly like about it right now?

„‚Hermitage‘ was a hard album to do. I mean, we stay behind it and surely that in the long run, it will augment its value on our discography as every album so far did, but the musical choice there was to introduce prog to our sound, and it had the benefits and the let downs of any musical adventure. I feel ‚Far from God‘ represents us better. All albums do, but this one is closer to the heart.“

How do you see and evaluate this new output within your whole musical journey, which lasts since 1992?

„Moonspell is a “zeitgeist” band. All the music we wrote is our answer to what happens inside and around. Sometimes is the extinction of things and people we loved (‚Extinct‘, 2015); others is the pre-apocalypse vibes (‚The Butterfly Effect‘, 1999), this time is about love, romance, pain, conflict, that’s what we feel writing about now, no big secret.“

How does it feel right now, knowing that lots of people out there will be enjoying these new, pretty "different" songs?

„Splendid. I’m personally tired of people debating and gatekeeping Moonspell’s music. Every musician wants to please a crowd, I don’t do music just “for myself”, I do it for alike minded people, for them to enjoy, dance, be free, create new memories or relationships. So far, so good, there will be many people crying about ‚Wolfheart‘ again, but it’s their choice, not mine, I moved embracing our legacy but not living under its shadow.“

So many bands in this genre are becoming increasingly bombastic, opulent, fantastical, theatric etc. etc. - yet all too often, they’re losing their bite. Moonspell, on the other hand, sinks its fangs in with a simple, hungry, vampire-like bite in 2026! How would you describe the band’s distinctive and eerie-sounding signature sound on this album to readers?

„You said it, not me. [smiles] But I agree, the so-called Gothic Metal lost its darkness and its pain and went a bit too “eurovision” for my taste. It’s all good but it’s not for Moonspell. This album is a simple, no strings attached Gothic Metal album with a dark groove, deep lyrics and vocals, easy to listen, great to hold dear to your soul.“

Five years between two studio albums is a long time these days. How has the band’s spirit evolved since the previous album "Hermitage", and where do you see yourselves today among all the similar bands?

„After ‚Hermitage‘, I feel we had a big existential crisis, especially creatively. We couldn’t stop so we took ourselves to the road many times, we made a live with orchestra album, in order to stay in the scene, be a presence in our fan’s lives and of course survive. But I felt back then, and now I’m sure these were all steps to reach for the new album. We were waiting for the muse to arrive, so to speak. And she did. I never look to other bands, to each its own, but I feel that Moonspell still has a word to say in Gothic Metal and still a lot of music inside us.“

"Born out of five years of creative searching, doubt and ultimate rediscovery" - please report about these three subjects.

„Exactly. There was that big dilemma I spoke about in the last answer, an existential crisis, perhaps, thus the searching. The doubt was crustal clear to us even if troublesome and it related to questions of becoming a “legacy” band playing commemorative shows, like ‚Wolfheart‘ or ‚Irreligious‘ 30 anniversary shows; but also if there was room for new Moonspell music, inside us and outside in the scene, there’s so many bands doing great and contemporary stuff, we had to find our niche too. Finally, the rediscovery is the music of ‚Far from God‘ itself, that has answered all our prayers and questions.“

What is the essence of your unique vision behind the album title "Far From God"? A title that is always remarkably apt… especially these days… oh, people - they’re becoming more and more helpless, more and more narrow-minded, more and more religious, and more and more inhumane… or are they being deliberately made that way?!

„It’s a title directed inspired by Nietzsche philosophy. Nietzsche was a philologist, in simple terms, he always searched for the original words and meanings in the archetypes of Greek Philosophy and thought. Then he put those meanings into the light of contemporary times and discerned about its obvious corruption of meaning and message. There is no concept or idea that has been more abused by mankind than that of God. You look at the three main monotheist religions and now they are more violent than ever with Islam terror, Judaic occupation of Palestine, Trump’s or Bolsonaro’s evangelism. They are all far from god. It can be read also that we are far from the important and true meaning of things, can be god, family, lovers, empathy, politics, whatever, we deviated from the good nature we should have. And it’s time to start going back to it.“

How can readers picture the process of how you write, develop, and finish one of your new songs? And were there any ups and downs along the way this time?

„For this album, we were just facing writer’s blocks all the time. It was trial and error until we found the thread. I wrote dozens of lyrics, ripped them apart, we recorded a ton of demos, I had at least 5 albums titles…but it wasn’t clicking. Until… it did. Moonspell has to be together in a room, no remote songwriting, no zoom, no Skype, no phone. Me, Pedro and Ricardo spend hours upon hours, they play, they arrange, I write, I go inside the booth and demo some vocals. It’s a process of proximity, very old school like and we wouldn’t have it any other way…“

A lot of Metal bands do it that way, especially since the pandemic. Has it turned out to be more rewarding for you, too, to release EPs, singles, and live recordings to bridge the gap instead of rushing out another “quick” album?

„It comes out of necessity, really. The market and the fans demand more and more and sometimes it’s hard to keep up. The wheel spins so fast that sometimes one might fall over. We try our best not to flood the market with this and that, as we know our fans aren’t rich and they have to make choices. We also manage our own career, so that’s why we could afford a 5, 6 year gap between albums, also thanks to Napalm Records which believed in our vision too. I don’t want Moonspell to be in that loop: 2 years on the road, 1 album, 2 years on the road. I feel this is killing creativity and we try and succeeded to avoid it.“

The new band photos are looking great, you look like a priest on one of them - kudos! I see a strong bong of "men and mind". How good and how close synchronized is the current chemistry between you and the other musicians in Moonspell?

„Thanks! It’s all photoshop though hahaha. In recent years I was feeling old and tired and not motivated to be in the band anymore. I wrote some novels, I made a label Alma Mater Records, I started a music consulting business. I gained a lot of weight and developed a slight drinking problem. All I can say is that ‚Far From God‘ saved me from a bad destiny. We have now a lovely chemistry within the band, me and Pedro are hand in glove and we push the other guys too, always observing their personal lives and problems. We are there for each other and we like to be together. I wouldn’t be in a band otherwise.“

Today seasoned veterans in the band - what were some of the most important experiences, lessons, and insights you gained along the long way?

„Many to count but in a nutshell, especially knowing we do come from Portugal, we learned to recognise and take an opportunity and to manage our expectations properly. I don’t want to reach a big crowd, I want to reach the right crowd and enjoy the ride and the privilege of music, that brought us here in the first place.“

And, when you look back on all your experiences since you started out as a musician in Moonspell, what has changed the most in your attitude toward Gothic Metal?

„We are more confident now that this is the way to go now, musically or otherwise. Sometimes you just let the voice of the fans and of the market lead you into insecurity and you must stay master of your path. We are a good band, we are an honest band, making music from the heart and living every day with the consequences of our own choices. The best consequence is that we are basically free to whatever we want to do and we didn’t fall into the responsibility of doing the same album again and again to please a faithful crowd of listeners or our manager. Gothic Metal is want we do best and it took us all these years to find it out.“

One can hardly figure it out since the depth of all the new material … but how was the selection of songs for the album done - was it difficult or rather easy for the band?

„It was quite straightforward, as we’d decided not to write too much material, but to focus exclusively on the 8 tracks from ‚Far From God‘. Also, as we were a bit blocked, we had just 2 or 3 more ideas we’ll save for later… The criteria were to have diversity yes but that all songs had a common sound and thread, something more homogenous. I think that the production by Jaime Gomez Arellano also helped us steer into that direction, to make it solid, one unbreakable piece of 8 songs.“

You’re all experienced and talented musicians in the band - given your strong egos, does that make working together more difficult, or is it actually easier because you’re all pulling together toward a shared vision?

„As a joke I always say that my ego died in 1998 when we released ‚Sin / Pecado‘ and were bashed by the fans. So, with the death of ego, it’s one less thing to get in the way. Me and Pedro and Gomez, the producer, we call all the shots and decisions. And the three of us believe in serving the band sound and vision first than any virtuous moment of our players. I’m a very humble singer and I just do what I can do properly. I don’t teach anyone else how to sing, I’m open to learn from my mistakes and I sing just the exact amount that the band needs, period. It’s harder for our guitar player Ricardo, he’s a genius and he likes to “leave his mark” on studio, with an extra note, an extra lick but Gomez was not having it, so it got… tense, sometimes. But we don’t give in this redline. Moonspell first. If you want to show off, you’re in the wrong band.“

What was your experience of the recording process for the new output from start to finish - biz as usual or something new due to the different material?

„It was more precise and really hard, sometimes, to get it tight with the mood, the intonation, the delivery. Being such a “simple” album, we found out there’s something complex about simplicity. Another different thing this time is that we recorded in Porto, Portugal. We haven’t done this for a long time because we like to put in some distance between us and our family and friends, but it all went perfect. Porto has a gothic aura that was very cool and inspiring to us. The rest was like I said, to relax, to be at our best, to follow the producer’s lead and to enjoy the ride.“

Anything you would like to add?

„Thanks again for a marvellous interview and support. I hope your readers get ‚Far From God‘ with us. Keep up the good work and see on the festivals in 2026 and also on tour in 2027. Under the spell!“

© Markus Eck, 19.06.2026

Photo Credit: Chantik Photography by Sonja Schuringa

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