Released: July 3, 2026
Moonspell know what gothic metal is meant to feel like.
Not just sound like.
Feel like.
The drama, the romance, the religious imagery, the shadows, the sadness, and the sense that beauty and doom are standing in the same room. Moonspell have lived in that space for decades, but Far From God feels like they are walking back into it with purpose.
The question is simple: what happens when a band returns to its old darkness without treating it like a costume?
You get Far From God.
Released in 2026, the album comes after a long stretch of doubt and searching. You can hear that. Moonspell do not sound like they are trying to prove they are still heavy enough, gothic enough, or relevant enough. They sound like a band remembering which room is theirs.
“Cross Your Heart” opens with patience. The song does not rush to show off. It sets the mood first: dark, steady, and dramatic without spilling over into cheese. Fernando Ribeiro sounds grounded right away. His voice has that deep, worn-in presence that makes even simple lines feel like they are coming from somewhere old.
The title track brings the vampire romance back to the surface. That could have gone badly. Vampires in metal can turn goofy fast. Moonspell avoid that by treating the imagery seriously without making it stiff. “Far From God” has weight because it sounds less like Halloween decoration and more like desire, guilt, and faith tangled together.
That is where the album works best.
It remembers that gothic metal needs feeling, not just fog.
“Biblical” pushes the religious language harder, but the song does not feel like a sermon. It feels like someone standing in the wreckage of belief and trying to decide what still matters. The guitars stay heavy, the keyboards add shadow, and the rhythm section keeps everything moving with restraint. Moonspell do not need to crush the room every second. They know the slow burn can do damage too.
“The Great Wolf in the Sky” gives the album one of its biggest shapes. Alicia Nuhro’s strings add drama, but they do not turn the song into a fancy museum piece. The track still has teeth. It feels mythic without floating away, like the old Moonspell wolf imagery being pulled into a colder, older night.
That matters because Far From God is not just reaching back toward Irreligious.
It reaches for that spirit from a different age.
The band sound older here in the right way. Not tired. More aware. The darkness does not feel like something they are putting on. It feels like something they have carried long enough to understand better.
“Your Promise of Light” has one of the album’s best contrasts because the title sounds hopeful, but the song does not let hope come easily. Moonspell are good at that kind of tension. They can make light feel dangerous because it always shows you what the dark was hiding.
“For the Love of Mortals” keeps the romantic pull alive without softening the record too much. Ribeiro’s voice does a lot of the work here. He does not need to oversell the drama. He just sits in it. That is one of the reasons Moonspell still sound like Moonspell. The voice does not chase the song. It haunts it.
“Our Freedom to Fall” gets close to the album’s real nerve. The title conveys a significant message. Freedom is not treated like some clean victory. It sounds like a choice with consequences. That fits the whole record. Far From God is full of people reaching for beauty, love, belief, and escape, but nothing comes without a shadow attached.
Then “Reconquista” closes the album with the right kind of weight. The title brings history and identity into the room, and the song feels like Moonspell planting a flag without making a speech. The band’s unique ability to evoke a dramatic, proud, and darkly Portuguese atmosphere is unparalleled.
That is the strength of Far From God.
Moonspell are not trying to modernize themselves into something unrecognizable. They are not trying to win an argument with younger bands. They take the old ingredients — gothic romance, heavy guitars, deep vocals, religious dread, myth, and shadow — and make them feel lived in again.
So what happens when a band returns to its old darkness without treating it like a costume?
You get Far From God.
A record where Moonspell do not run from their past.
They step back into the dark and make it feel earned.
Written by Rob Joncas for DeadNoteMedia. Artist information and music courtesy of the band. © 2026 DeadNoteMedia. All rights reserved.
DeadNoteMedia 