Thoughts: As big of a step as Memorial was towards the extreme, Night Eternal is the same but moving in a more mature direction. This is every bit as extreme as Memorial is, however the song writing is more focused. The songs are better executed and more cohesive.
The overall concept is nearly the same as Memorial: Moonspell takes their brand of gothic metal and adds a healthy dose of black metal to the mix. By doing so they are able to create an atmospheric blackened gothic metal album (say that three times fast). So how does this sound in execution? The songs are dark, yet have an edge of tragedy to them as you would expect from the gothic side. Fernando relies heavily on his harsh vocals still. The guitars and keyboards interact with each other phenomenally well, trading off the melody and backing rolls effortlessly between each other.
In addition to the improved song writing and the more focused scope of the album the flow of the songs is also flat out better than Memorial. One song will forecast the next in an outro transition, or a riff will usher in the next song as if welcoming in an old friend.
Many years after it's release Night Eternal remains my favorite Moonspell release, even over the classic albums. The only album that comes close to this is Sin/Pecado with it's all it's glorious strangeness. A glorious dark metal album.
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