Moonspell will present their new work with a «theatrical musical concert», which recreates the 1755 earthquake, at the Cine-Teatro Louletano, this Thursday, December 7th, at 21 pm.
«The return to the Algarve is a reunion, a promise fulfilled after a show canceled years ago at a concert in Halloween. The album is played in its entirety, complemented by the band's repertoire, in a tribute to the fans», reveals Fernando Ribeiro to Musical-Sul Informação.
The show is a mixture of «metal and theatre» and that's why the group chose this type of venue to present it across the country.
Melodically, the new album doesn't deviate from Moonspell's musicality, with riffs vibrant, epic orchestrations and voices and lyrics that testify to the agony of the day of the earthquake. The band was also concerned with recreating the time, existing a fusion with percussive and melodic elements that refer to the end of the century and to the atmosphere that was lived in the Portuguese capital at the time.
The new work is sung in Portuguese, in a conceptual register, totally inspired by the earthquake of 1 November 1755, the result of the band's fascination for Portuguese culture and history.
«Working conceptually is very interesting and not limiting. We decided to crystallize some ideas that were loose in our career: an album in Portuguese and a thematic album almost as if it were a historical document. “1755” allowed us, as a band, to take that step», says Fernando Ribeiro.
The album follows a dynamic very similar to what happened on November 1, 1755:
a whirlwind in the first moments, passing to some calm, followed by a certain hope, and dismay.
Despite being unusual, the metal sung in Portuguese is nothing new. Bizarra Locomotiva or the “old guys” V12 already did it and, for the band, it didn't make any sense to sing this album in English. “We would be distorting history. The choice was to be more genuine to the concept», explains the artist.
Fernando Ribeiro argues that musicians have a mental orientation that has much more to do with inspiration and emotion than with strategy. «We are not at home making plans to make round and see where we're going to make money. It can be valid for other professions, or for some musicians, but for Moonspell, what rules is the artistic sense», he emphasizes.
In researching the album, the band found that there were no musical records of the event, reinforcing the idea they had in doing this work. «The year 1755 was extremely important for what Portugal has become, not only then, but also today. We discovered a lot about Lisbon, about Portugal, about Europe», reveals Fernando Ribeiro.
Links with the present are unavoidable, especially after Moonspell released the video for the theme “All Saints”. «There was so much neglect in Portugal that it made us realize that, since the XNUMXth century, there has been a lot that has changed, but others have remained, such as a certain Portuguese optimism that leads us to believe that everything will be fine when, a few weeks later, there is another forest fire that reaps a few more lives», highlights the singer.
Abroad, the response to “1755” has been surprising and the openness of metal lovers leads them “to see the record as an experience, there is currently a movement where bands bring their mother tongue, their culture with them, taking whoever listens to them for a different, more native universe», reveals Fernando Ribeiro.
The inclusion of lyrics translations allows fans to get to know the history and what was the 1755 earthquake.
The impact has been greater in Brazil, “which finally seems to have discovered the Moonspells” and in Latin America, and there has also been a good response in European countries.
The concert at the Cine-Teatro Louletano lasts 75 minutes and is the last of the year in Portugal, before Moonspell take “1755” around the world.
“In Tremor Dei” has as guest Paulo Bragança, the voice that Fernando Ribeiro had in mind for the theme, which demonstrates how people believed in God with fear and not with Faith, in the 1th century. XVIII and «how was it for the people that day, November XNUMXst, with despair, seeing the churches falling on top of them and wondering where God was…»
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