MOONSPELL Frontman Checks In From Recording Studio

Portuguese metallers MOONSPELL entered Antfarm studios in Denmark earlier this month with producer Tue Madsen (THE HAUNTED, DARK TRANQUILLITY, HALFORD) to begin recording the follow-up to 2006's "Memorial" for a tentative late spring/early summer release via SPV.

MOONSPELL vocalist Fernando Ribeiro has posted the second entry in his online studio diary. A couple of excerpts follow:

"Recording vocals is always demanding. It involves creating, displaying, right tuning, or in my case almost there tuning, screams are always a piece of cake so it seems, and I am not bragging, just miserably acknowledging my vocal condition, and I have to say Tue makes me at ease, is patient and it's great recording like that. So we went to twelve songs, some in a flow, some in painful trial and error, some nailed to the wall, and some like vocal Lego (yet another Danish creation). The most difficult song for me to record was 'Scorpion Flower' but I was rewarded in the end.

"On Sunday the 20th our good friend Niclas from AMORPHIS arrived to record bass for this one. We had already invited him to do it in 'The Antidote' (2003) and after Waldemar [Sorychta] and D. Aires lending us the talent for 'Memorial' and 'Under', we decided to bring back Nico, our old friend, to nail this bastard down as the songs were thirsty for his style of playing. Veni, vedi, vici. He recorded in two half days, allowed vocal world their one song a day and brought us his Finnish warmth, excellent online tips and a great mood, quite a break from seeing the same aging faces every day.

"He arrived just as fast as he left us but the result was quite amazing. We thank him again for the bass, the tips and the great friendship."

Read Ribeiro's entire studio diary at this location.

MOONSPELL's last release was the "Under SatanÆ" CD, which consisted of re-recordings of the band's legendary EP "Under the Moonspell" (1994) as well as their first demo "Anno SatanÆ" and their sole track as MORBID GOD, "Serpent Angel". All songs were re-arranged and revamped in order to "underline their revered distinction as underground classics but now with a mature dark energy and class," according to a press release. The CD was recorded at Antfarm with Tue Madsen and charted in the band's home country, where the group played the album in its entirety at a one-off show at the Lisbon Coliseum in front of 3,500 fans.

Watch fan-filmed video footage of MOONSPELL performing live at this year's Wacken Open Air festival in Wacken, Germany: