Portuguese dark metal icons Moonspell performed their first-ever symphonic show, Opus Diabolicum, featuring the renowned Orquestra Sinfonietta de Lisboa, on 26 October at the MEO Arena in Lisbon.
The band made history at this unforgettable live event, adding another magnificent chapter to both Portuguese metal music and their very own legacy. A year later, on 31 October, this monumental event will be available on DVD/Blu-ray, 2-CD, black and coloured vinyl and digitally via Napalm Records.
On Opus Diabolicum, the band revisits their classics and their bombastic album 1755 at a one-off, exclusive show - their biggest production to date. The heavy metallic power of the dark metal pioneers meets the classical magnitude of the 45-piece Orquestra Sinfonietta de Lisboa - one of Portugal's finest orchestras - conducted by maestro Vasco Pearce de Azevedo.
A new video clip for the Moonspell anthem, "Vampiria", is premiering today - captured live at the Opus Diabolicum show - a haunting tribute to the gothic roots of Moonspell, that now rises once more in full symphonic glory, unleashing dramatic orchestration and vampiric grandeur like never before!
Frontman Fernando Ribeiro comments: "'Vampiria' is a Moonspell classic, as old as time itself. It was a first choice for us because it's actually one of the most remarkable arrangements of the whole show, which granted new blood and life (aren't they the same?) to a timeless, eternal song. See it risen from the dead with your own eyes, after 'travelling oceans of time'".
"I have never been the one to push Moonspell into an orchestral direction", Ribeiro admits. "I mean, like any fan, I can recognise the impact Classical had over Heavy Metal (Quorthon, from Bathory, used to quote Wagner as his favourite 'band') and in my musical collection Mussorgsky, Prokofiev and Ravel, could be found, shoulder to shoulder with the aforementioned Bathory, Celtic Frost, Sarcófago or Iron Maiden. But, I wasn't a fan of the metal meets orchestra efforts myself, and when I approached Jaime (Gomez Arellano) to mix this beast, I asked him: 'have you heard S&M and other 'live with an orchestra' metal bands albums? We want nothing like that! This is work of passion: truly the work of the devil (opus diabolicum): imperfect, unprocessed, untamed. A release made by friends to all the friends we have around this goth forsaken world and that in an arena in Lisbon or in a sweaty club in Texas, keep the spell going, until we are no more."
No Moonspell fan, anywhere in the world, should miss their chance to add this rare and massive performance to their collection! Link
MOONSPELL - To Release Massive Live Album, Opus Diabolicum, This Halloween
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- Written by: Jerneja
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