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Moonspell - Irreligious



8.6 | 709 votes |
Release date: 29 July 1996
Style: Gothic metal

Owners:

863 have it
45 want it
1 trades it


Disc I
01. Perverse... Almost Religious
02. Opium
03. Awake
04. For A Taste Of Eternity
05. Ruin & Misery
06. A Poisoned Gift
07. Subversion
08. Raven Claws
09. Mephisto
10. Herr Spiegelmann
11. Full Moon Madness
12. Opium [radio edit][limited deluxe bonus]

Disc II [Moonspell Live Across Europe, Winter 1996/1997: limited deluxe bonus live CD]
01. Intro
02. Opium
03. Awake!
04. Ruin & Misery
05. Raven Claws
06. Herr Spiegelmann
07. Mephisto
08. Intro
09. For A Taste Of Eternity
10. Full Moon Madness

Top 20 albums of 1996: 9

Additional info
Recorded at Woodhouse Studios between the 25th of March and the 11th of May 1996.
Produced and mixed by Waldemar Sorychta.
Engineered by Siggi Bemm.
Photography by Rolf Brenner.
Layout and design by Media Logistics and Moonspell.

The original Brazilian edition featured live bonus tracks "...Of Dream And Drama (Midnight Ride)" and "Alma Mater". Reissued again on October 15, 2007 as limited deluxe edition with new mastering, artwork, expanded 28 page booklet with liner notes and bonus live CD.

Staff review by
Dream Taster
Rating:
9.0
When I think about depressive melodies, the first country that comes to my mind is surely not Portugal. However, this gothic/doom metal band called Moonspell is from Portugal and these musicians show once again that metal is a worldwide music. 1996's Irreligious was released one year after Wolfheart and from the first note, it's easy to hear the difference between these two albums . This time, Fernando Ribeiro sings as he never managed to do before. But more than his voice, this album just amazes me due to the beauty exhaled by the songs.

Read more ››
published 22.09.2003 | Comments (12)

Who would have thought 25 years ago that Moonspell could create another real classic only one year after their debut, the truly grandiose Wolfheart?

Admittedly, they had to cut off a good part of their musical roots to bring Irreligious into being; the black metal of the early years has almost completely vanished. But instead the other driving force in the heart of the five Portuguese could fully unfold and bestow the still young gothic metal scene a dark and intense highlight: musically mature, full of dramaturgy, melancholy and bombast, atmospherically dense and catchy as hell, yet heavier than legions of imitators who fail to capture and copy the genius of this remarkable sophomore album until the present day.

Starvynth's picks | More picks ››

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Comments

Comments: 10   Visited by: 904 users
06.05.2012 - 18:03
Rating: 10
The Melting Snow

One of my favorite albums of all time. Full moon madness, Awake, A poisoned gift are deep, meaningful, melodic. my favorites.
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26.11.2012 - 23:09
Rating: 8
Erik M.

A more consistent album than Wolfheart (but still not as good), as I like pretty much every song equally. If I had to choose I'd say A Poisoned Gift is my favourite and Opium and Raven Claws are my least favourites.
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26.07.2015 - 21:13
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Only song stands out is Opium, but after new album kick ass, this is past and are meaningless, let new album magic saddle a little
----
Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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22.06.2016 - 12:33
Rating: 10
The Melting Snow

That guitar solo of Full Moon Madness. so many years passed, still a classic. the last 2 minutes of the song are epic. I love how the band too realises the worth of the masterpiece they created and close all of their gigs with the song
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29.07.2021 - 10:41
nikarg

For the 25th anniversary of Irreligious, the band posted this playlist with songs they (and I) were listening back then. There is some really great music in this list, there is some really outstanding music in this album.
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29.07.2021 - 11:03
Deadsoulman

This is such a cool playlist. There's a couple of things I don't know, but a lot of these songs and bands were seminal in the development of my taste in music in the 90's.

While I slightly prefer Wolfheart, Irreligious was my first Moonspell album and a true revelation back then. I remember being floored by Full Moon Madness on my first listen.
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29.07.2021 - 23:54
Rating: 7
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Full Moon Madness is one of the best songs I've ever listened too, and that guitar solo is orgasmic!
The rest of the album is ok, but I much prefer Wolfheart. This album is cleaner, and less Blackened, but certainly alot more Gothic influenced.
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30.07.2021 - 00:43
Rating: 8
Redel

Just happy to see this being staff picked today -- would otherwise have completely missed the anniversary.
Great album, several highlights here. Full moon madness is among them but I prefer Ruin and Misery, For a taste of eternity, Awake, and Opium.
Their last really great album for me, though The Antidote was quite good, too.
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03.03.2022 - 02:42
Rating: 5
F3ynman2000
Nocturnal Bro
Was off to a great start with Opium... but then the rest was really uninspiring.
Wolfheart is so much more engaging in my opinion
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03.03.2022 - 07:39
Rating: 7
AndyMetalFreak
A Nice Guy
Written by F3ynman2000 on 03.03.2022 at 02:42

Was off to a great start with Opium... but then the rest was really uninspiring.
Wolfheart is so much more engaging in my opinion

Your right Wolfheart is in a different league to this. Take away "Opium", and "Full Moon Madness" and I see this as an ordinary gothic metal album, with nothing to shout about, Imo anyway.
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