FERNANDO RIBEIRO On MOONSPELL's Metal-Meets-Orchestra Album 'Opus Diabolicum': 'I Wanted Something Raw, Authentic, With No Overdubs'

By David E. Gehlke

Frontman Fernando Ribeiro of long-running Portuguese Gothic metal outfit MOONSPELL is acutely aware that the novelty factor of performing with a live symphony orchestra has long since worn off. He's right. METALLICA may have popularized the idea in 1999 with the dodgy "S&M", but hordes of black metal bands were already symphonic — the same goes for Swedish originators THERION. Live efforts with a symphony orchestra from notables such as DIMMU BORGIR, EPICA and PARADISE LOST may have some merit but are merely fillers in otherwise strong discographies. Therefore, when Ribeiro was approached with the same idea for MOONSPELL, he wanted to turn the idea on its head. He insisted that MOONSPELL remain the focus: not the orchestra. And he was sure not to go the easy route by selecting their most popular songs only to have the orchestra play over them.

What emerged is "Opus Diabolicum - The Orchestral Live Show", a fittingly dramatic showing that does the MOONSPELL back catalog justice, namely the band's 2017 "1755" and select cuts from their 1995 "Wolfheart" debut. Recorded in October 2024 with the Orquestra Sinfonietta de Lisboa, "Opus Diabolicum" also includes orchestral compositions written specifically for the live show. And, conversely, it omits the band's most well-known number, "Opium", for the simple reason that it didn't make sense to perform live. Now gearing up to record a new studio album, Ribeiro was more than happy to fill in the blanks about "Opus Diabolicum" and more for BLABBERMOUTH.NET.

Blabbermouth: You are on record as saying you don't like a lot of metal albums recorded with a symphony. What is it about these albums that you don't like?

Fernando: "First, some context: MOONSPELL, I don't think we're a symphonic or orchestral band. We have other elements like gothic, electronic and dark metal, but we never dreamed about having an orchestral show. I don't want to sound ungrateful. This was more about seizing an opportunity, which is very important for a band hailing from Portugal. All that is happening right now with 'Opus Diabolicum' and the big show at the arena is a path we chose to take, doing something we haven't done before, to be inspired for a new album. The plan to record an orchestral album was born from an invitation from a promoter here in Portugal to headline an arena in Lisbon that has hosted SLIPKNOT and IRON MAIDEN. We thought we had to do something big; it was scaled down to 5,000, but in the end, we sold 8,000 tickets, which is a big number for a Portuguese metal band. That may be the record for a headlining MOONSPELL show. They called me and said we had to do something special, so I thought of an orchestra. Then the real work began. One of my jobs was to listen to other bands, bands that have impressed me as well. I believe orchestral death metal feels very authentic; it's raw. When it comes to classical music, I'm more attracted to Russian composers like [Igor] Stravinsky, [Modest] Mussorgsky, [Dimitri] Shostakovich, and [Sergei] Prokofiev. I enjoy the powerful moments created by composers like [Antonín] Dvořák and [Richard] Wagner. I'm a classical music fan. I see that reflected in metal. When I pick up records by orchestral bands like EPICA, 'S&M' [METALLICA] or live records from KATATONIA, or OPETH, I wasn't too impressed. They are great records. They are excellent bands, but they missed the main point — instead of highlighting the band and keeping the focus on the orchestra, they made it too sweet. I didn't want anything like Hans Zimmer. I wanted something raw, authentic, with no overdubs, especially not with MOONSPELL running under an orchestra. Our setlist was built to sound powerful, epic and organic, if you can call it that. I think that's what we achieved. That's what the reviews and fans are saying. It does sound like a live album. It truly captures that night of October 26, 2024, with all the out-of-tune cellos, my occasional half-tones and some guitar mistakes. These days, everything feels so perfect that it's almost tasteless. I wanted to add some spice and character. In the end, the results are quite satisfying. Live albums are always tricky; they can sometimes feel like placeholders. If you put something different into them, it sounds different. I've studied many records, though not specifically the live album and DVD market, which is mainly for fans and collectors, but we did well because it has exactly what I wanted and intended."

Blabbermouth: You take a song like "1755", which is already dramatic and has a lot of space, and it's enhanced here. Did you feel the songs from that album were better suited to the orchestra than others?

Fernando: "That's not our most popular album, but in some parts of Europe and Eastern Europe, they loved it. We did a tour in the U.S., which was a strange setup due to the novelty effect caused by the language difference. It was the foundation of this orchestral show. When we returned from recording in 2017, we had some virtual orchestrations. We did a good enough job to fool some people, but we always wanted to experience it with the real thing. For us, playing in Lisbon, especially where the earthquake happened, I wanted to perform in the Impact Zone, but I don't think City Hall authorities would allow it. The second-best option was to play in Lisbon and dedicate a large part of the show to this album. As I mentioned earlier, the goal wasn't just to play the hits or do a safe best-of MOONSPELL with an orchestra. It was about creating a narrative, telling a story, and also injecting a bit of MOONSPELL magic. '1755' is full of that magic. When you listen to it, even if you don't understand the language, you feel a sense of urgency; you sense that something is happening. You see the remnants of the city destroyed, yet at the same time, new life is emerging through reconstruction and the rebuilding of religious structures at the end of the 18th century. Yes, '1755' really laid the groundwork for everything 'Opus' is about. After recording a large portion of the '1755' songs, we decided to include them in our repertoire, especially with the orchestra in mind."

Blabbermouth: Two of the songs from "Extinct", "Breathe" and "Extinct" work really well here. Do you think that has more to do with the fact that they were already symphonic?

Fernando: "The original versions of those songs we worked with the Mumin Sesler String Group from Turkey. After Budapest, you're in Europe, and the way people listen to music is very different. Their approach to playing, using violins and other instruments, made those particular songs a big challenge for the orchestra. The musicians are from Portugal, Spain, Eastern Europe, so when they heard the original arrangement, they said, 'We can't do it. It's a Turkish thing, and we can't do it like that without sounding fake.' They did their own thing and did a great job. It's important for us in these legacy years, like 'Wolfheart', which is now 30 years old, and 'Irreligious', which will be 30 next year, to appreciate that MOONSPELL is in a midlife phase. It's not just about the early releases. Albums like 'Extinct' brought us back into the spotlight. It's a celebrated album and a great one at that. It already had a kind of orchestral vibe, especially because Pedro [Paixão], our keyboard player, was like a one-man orchestra for that album. That's what we had in terms of strings and more symphonic arrangements with keyboards. Choosing the repertoire was hard, but I followed a few principles: The show's dynamics and some timeless pieces. We also added 'Vampiria' which was one of the cool tracks here because it has a soundtrack feel. It's a song that has aged well, sounding a bit naïve, but from '95, other songs like 'Full Moon Madness' or 'Alma Mater' have aged better. This arrangement, with strings and no other MOONSPELL instruments, just me and the orchestra playing that grand finale, made us fall in love with that song all over again. For us, it's a process of discovery. We've always been a learning band. We learned a lot from working with the orchestra. Now that we have the contacts and friendships there, I've heard horror stories about working with classical orchestras — things like how they're close-minded and only care about the clock — but we were very lucky, which helped, and we didn't have such stories to tell. Everyone was focused; I'd even say they were 'happy' to be part of this project."

Blabbermouth: "Opium" is missing. Did you try it out and have it not work?

Fernando: "I have to be blunt: We tried 'Opium', and it was a waste of resources. [Laughs] It's a Gothic rock song. With the orchestra, everything was fine; the master protects the art. Even in extreme metal, like Finnish death metal, it's not easy for a classically trained musician. First, they wanted to play seven songs, with the other half a regular MOONSPELL show with a bigger production. I said, 'No, that's not going to cut it.' We didn't do an encore, and people were shouting. This was the concept, and we stuck to it. We played 100 minutes of music. We had a specially written intro for the 'Opus Diabolicum' record and live show. Everything had to be negotiated in a cool, diplomatic way. To introduce a song like 'Opium' in there, it could have sounded cool if it were a sequence between 'Opium' and 'Awake' [the song that follows 'Opium' on 'Irreligious'], but we had decisions to make. There are many songs I would love to give orchestral treatments to, like 'At Tragic Heights' and others from '1755'. We had a time window and human resistance to follow up. We made our choices, but some could have benefited from the orchestra treatment, and some songs were left out. We had no option to leave those out."

Blabbermouth: Where are you in terms of the follow-up to "Hermitage"? It will be five years old next year.

Fernando: "We've been thinking about the next record since the moment we released 'Hermitage'. I read a lot of interviews with bands, and I've toured with DARK TRANQUILLITY, who are very prolific. They've made two albums since then, and the last one was really good, 'Endtime Signals'. That doesn't cut it for MOONSPELL. I'm not sure it's because we're from Southern Europe, but we need to be inspired to do an album. We are inspired now, but the live album is a path to the album, which will be recorded at the end of this year. It should be out in July 2026. I don't know how other bands stayed inspired to do music. Sometimes, I listen to their new albums and think they're rushed. Sometimes, it's falling into the trap, that circle of one album, two years touring, then another album. With MOONSPELL, we tried our best to break that cycle, and we did. We had to pay our dues, and Napalm Records is very patient with us because we should have recorded a new album two years ago. [Laughs] But, we were very honest with them. This is a very important album for MOONSPELL.

"When MOONSPELL turned 30, I started looking into our legacy. I was interested, of course. I also launched Alma Mater to take care of the back catalog, but when MOONSPELL turned 30 and celebrated with shows in Portugal, I connected with that. I could see myself with people who talk about us like we are old farts, especially with the Century Media catalog, and I could see that our music is a memory to those people. We reached much further than we thought, and I connect with that. The first question in my mind is whether we could live as a legacy band. We have the repertoire. I think we have the context and perfect timing. We've done some 'Wolfheart' and 'Irreligious' shows. We have to find the calling within ourselves. Slowly, but surely, we did find it. I'm not going to tell you that this is going to be our best album and music. Those are factors we can't dominate as a band. We wrote eight to ten new songs. The first feeling is that, 'Well, we can still do it. We still have it.' I can still write lyrics. We can bring a very mystical, romantic atmosphere and a very classic Goth metal album, to put it in more objective terms. We are totally excited about it. We didn't take the shortest path. We went on a very big path. I think that was what the band really needed. We have people to thank, like our fans and our label. We really needed to do that for the next album. Otherwise, it wouldn't have happened at all."

Blabbermouth: You hinted a few years ago that MOONSPELL may call it quits sooner than later. Are you still of that belief?

Fernando: "I don't feel that way at all, but I did feel it. I felt it, and I said it. We don't have a cool social networking strategy. [Laughs] In Portugal, we say 'The heart is right to the mouth.' Sometimes, we say things that we don't regret, but things changed when we came back from a big tour that we called the 'Mother Of All Tours' with ROTTING CHRIST and SILVER DUST. We did six days a week shows, something like 57 shows. Most of them were sold out. I felt really exploited by our agent. There was no human factor in there. There was no respect for our existence. It was one of the things that we changed before the pandemic. This was back in 2018. Then, we had the clash with reality when Mike [Gaspar, drums] left the band. It was tough for me. I was his best friend. I didn't want it to happen; I could see why it happened. It was down to me to make this call. The guys said, 'MOONSPELL without me won't go on.' If I call it quits, we'll call it quits. We had a great run. We'll do other bands, we'll move on. We all have other skills besides MOONSPELL. I have a label. Then, fate played a trick on me, and the pandemic came. I was like, 'Should I stay or should I go?' The pandemic made me feel a kind of longing to be on the road and have my life back. Mike got out a little bit before the pandemic. We all had time to reflect, and I could taste it.

"Then there was an episode in the U.S. when we were touring with DELAIN after the pandemic. I was assaulted by a gang in Queens, New York. I was in the parking lot, and things got sour. I talked my way out of it. I was like, 'Man, this is getting serious. The world is getting dangerous.' I recoiled a bit. That's why we didn't come back to North America for many years. I could only hear in my mind the music from the movie 'Dangerous Minds' and the song 'Gangster's Paradise'. Then, I have to say, other things happened to balance out the negative thoughts. We were on tour with PARADISE LOST, one of our favorite bands. This was after the pandemic. It was an amazing tour in the U.K. Then, we made choices like going on the road with DARK TRANQUILLITY, then the new album, and the orchestra shows. These feelings made me want to have MOONSPELL again. I would say MOONSPELL, in my heart, pulses stronger than ever. I'm very happy to be in MOONSPELL. I feel the privilege of being in this band."

Photo credit: Rui Vasco