MOONSPELL

Biography
Moonspell is a Portuguese black metal/gothic metal band with death/doom metal elements, formed in 1989 as Morbid God. After renaming themselves Moonspell in 1992, they released their first EP Under the Moonspell in 1994, a year before of the release of their first album Wolfheart. The band quickly gained status and became one of the most recognizable metal bands from Portugal.[1]

Moonspell reached the Portuguese top first with their album Sin/Pecado, and were, along with Metallica and Iron Maiden, the only metal band to reach the first place of the Portuguese charts after the release of their album, Memorial, in 2006.[2] With Memorial, Moonspell also became the first Portuguese heavy metal band to have a record certified gold status.[3] They are also very popular in Germany, where Memorial entered in 68th in the Top 100 Chart

The early days (1992-1994)

Although they had been playing since 1989 under the name of "Morbid God",[4] the band became Moonspell in 1992, the same year they released the promo track "Serpent Angel". In 1993, singer Fernando Ribeiro, drummer Miguel Gaspar and bass player Ares (not to be confused with Aires Pereira) released the demo Anno Satanae, which caught the attention of French label Adipocere. It was for Adipocere that Moonspell released in 1994 a mini-album entitled Under the Moonspell. The record was a considered a landmark in Portuguese metal[1] and sold more than 5000 copies, becoming Adipocere's best-selling record at the time.[4] Shortly after the release, they played with Cradle of Filth in a concert in Lisbon.

Breakthrough (1995-1997)

After the release of mini-album Under the Moonspell, Moonspell signed with Century Media for six CDs. Wolfheart was recorded in Germany with producer Waldemar Sorychta and was released in 1995 and was followed by a European tour. Although the album had little or no recognition at the beginning, it was later recognized as a "milestone" by heavy-metal reviews site Metal-Observer.com.[5] During the tour, guitarist Mantus quit the band and was replaced by Ricardo Amorim.

For 1995's Irreligious, the band again recorded with producer Waldemar Sorychta. While previous album was considered black metal, this one fell into the genre of gothic metal. The song "Opium" became the first Moonspell single. It quoted one of Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa's heteronyms, Álvaro de Campos, on his poem "Opiário" and its music video, featured the character of poet writing in a bar with the band playing. Along with the release of the album in a convent, the Convento do Beato, there were factors that helped the band selling 10,000 copies of the album in their homeland


Band members
Current members
* Fernando Ribeiro (Langsuyar) - vocals (1989-).
* Miguel Gaspar (Mike/Nisroth) - drums (1992-)
* Ricardo Amorim (Morning Blade) - guitar (1995-)
* Pedro Paixão (Passionis/Neophytus) - keyboard/guitar (1994-)
* Aires Pereira (Ahriman) - bass (2003-)

Previous members
* Baalberith - drums (1989-1992)
* Luís Lamelas (Malah/Fenrir) - guitar (1992-1993)
* J.M. (Tanngrisnir) - guitar (1993-1995)
* Mantus/Duarte - guitar (1990-1995)
* João Pedro (Ares/Tetragrammaton) - bass (1989-1997)
* Sérgio Crestana - bass (1997-2003)
* Waldemar Sorychta - bass (2006, 2007)
* Niclas Etelävuori - bass (2003, 2008)

Discography
* Wolfheart (1995)
* Irreligious (1996)
* Sin/Pecado (1998)
* The Butterfly Effect (1999)
* Darkness and Hope (2001)
* The Antidote (2003)
* Memorial (2006)
* Under Satanæ (2007)
* Night Eternal (2008)