MOONSPELL Had To Do 'A Lot Of Soul Searching' Before Making 'Far From God' Album: 'I Didn't Feel I Had It In Me Anymore', Says FERNANDO RIBEIRO

In a new interview with Neeka Rogers of Metal Nation, vocalist Fernando Ribeiro of Portuguese dark metal pioneers MOONSPELL spoke about the band's upcoming album, "Far From God", which will be released on July 3 via Napalm Records. Regarding the lyrical and musical inspiration for the follow-up to 2021's "Hermitage", Fernando said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, I think the great subjects and the great transformations find us. It's not 'seek and you shall find'. Sometimes we seek our whole life for inspiration, and that was a really key moment for MOONSPELL.

"After 'Hermitage', to be honest, I didn't feel I had it in me anymore," he admitted." I even wanted to entertain writ[ing] more books here in Portugal. I have my own label, Alma Mater Books & Records, [which I use to] help the other bands. I even started a small music consulting business, which is a little bit more boring, but very necessary too. So I had to fall in love with these themes again, because for me, they are the essential themes. And that was easy somehow, but at the time also painstakingly it took a while. And things just start falling on my lap, really. One of the things was Robert Eggers's [movie] 'Nosferatu'. I think that for many years people have misunderstood what the original Bram Stoker book was about, and we start watching more Hollywood kind of vampires, teenage vampire series about vampires, et cetera. But everything was very glitter and very fun and games, but that tragedy of Dracula or Nosferatu wasn't simply there. And when I saw the movie, I was, like, 'Wow, the aesthetics, the soundtrack.' Eggers is a great director with 'The Northman', 'The Lighthouse', but I think this was his best movie. I'm very curious about 'Werwulf'."

Fernando continued: "If you stand up as an artist, or a musician in my case, you really have to have your senses open to that kind of beauty, and that's how I understood it, and that's how I thought again. Finally, someone got it again that Dracula or Nosferatu are just a man and a woman. They could make a movie about a woman Dracula too — I think it would be awesome — that is just minding his or her own business, taking care of the kingdom, taking care of the household until something tragic happens, and they just robbed him or her of love, and then all hell breaks loose. And that's something not supernatural or monster-like. It's something very human. The need to get things straight, the need to sacrifice for love. So I was totally inspired by it, by some readings too that I've done. And also musically, I was getting very close again to this blend of gothic and metal because I think that will be the way.

"There was a lot of soul searching for this album, because MOONSPELL has done so much apocalyptic, industrial rock, extreme," he added. "And we were, like, 'Well, where shall we go now?' And I think that's when we started writing, really picking it up, one and a half years ago or something. Then every day we found more and more of our path. It's like Margaret Atwood [Canadian novelist]. She says when she's writing, she's like driving a car with headlights at night, and she doesn't see the end of the road. But every time she makes a few meters, a few feet or a few miles, she gets more of it. And I think that was a nice metaphor to describe our process, too, for 'Far From God'."

MOONSPELL has already released two singles so far from "Far From God": the title track and "Cross Your Heart".

The first single and album title track was previously described in a press release as "a hymn to tragic vampiric love. The song revives the mystique and romantic darkness that once defined the genre, while layered keyboards subtly expand the atmosphere without softening its heaviness. Dense guitars, deep resonant vocals and dramatic dynamic shifts evoke a timeless gothic aesthetic, restoring danger and elegance to the narrative of the vampire."

Ribeiro previously stated about how he wrote the "Far From God" title track: "I lost my faith and hope in vampires for quite a few years. They became the clowns of Hollywood, the cheap Halloween shop customs, the old and disgraceful princes from the East. Until the film director Robert Eggers brought us 'Nosferatu' in 2024 and I was immediately attracted back to that tragic, romantic character who Bram Stoker immortalized in his letters. I wrote 'Far From God' in just one breath and it's our first song about vampiric love in ages. I confess I felt the urge of, together with MOONSPELL, saving the face of gothic metal which became hostage of semi-tuned operatic female vocalists, simpleton and crunchy guitar riffs; and of lyrical content that would make Dracula impale himself with a stake in his bloodless heart. This song is the essence of this album, its title, its video, its soul. And you can even feel the fire of daylight burning into yours and your lover's skin."

Photo credit: Chantik Photography by Sonja Schuringa