MOONSPELL frontman Fernando Ribeiro's has issued a new studio report on their forthcoming album, Night Eternal:

Guitar World

"...came and went smoothly. It helped me being comfortably numb and confined to our temporary yet great Aarhus residence. I also trust Ricardo's skills and we made the best option possible in the end. Don't take me wrong fellows! Nothing wrong with guitars. They are the soul, the bread, the flesh and heart, the mind behind, the aim in front, the undisputed leader of all good and evil in Metal Music. But to hear, to understand, to endure all those layers, all those details, all the invisible mistakes and frequencies that only guitar players seem to communicate in, it is, sometimes, too much for a poor, modest and unable singer, a serf of yours. So I kinda stay away and exercise my love at the distance of a finished record and song. I know I am being unfair to a painstakingly hard, mature and demanding job, but hey, after all I am the one with free time to account the happenings and I could never feel totally welcomed at the great court hall of guitars (I just even happened to watch on YouTube Abbath's guitar lesson, something beyond my shy understanding) at least not as an equal. So to say my observation was minimal but while having a go at the songs myself I could hear the job is properly done and that is up to someone else to endure the pain and to smile at the stringed achievements. To top it up I believe it is only great to have things brought to you by a singer. After all we don't get enough to say. We don't have our own several mags. We don't have our own world. Well we do, but it's only deep inside our minds. That's why we get to do interviews, sing along, write such pieces. It's only karma retribution that the other guys keep their mouths shut on a gig except for the backing vocals. Don't you guys just hate when someone else than the singer announces the songs and thank the crowd? I know I do. I am all joking, it's up to you to discover which half is it."

Vocal World

"We have a deal now, thanks to years of experience. No more waiting in the dark corners for my turn and to go to the extent of recording for a whole day. Singers, we're a fragile breed! So to say Ricardo goes down to the studio, after the chunk that was laying all the textures, rhythms, you know how it follows into place, and uses most part of the mornings, early afternoons to record the rest, clean, solos, overdubs. I use the time for my stuff, my sleep, my books (The 1,111 pages of World Without End gone and missed already), my routines of bread, pillows, glasses of water, bread and cheese, bedroom push ups, you know. Then I put my wristbands, fingerless gloves, my training pants, my oxs (cheaper Crocks) and off I go to where I feel best: the fantasy of my words reproduced by my mouth.

I have finished the recordings yesterday, gone through a deep voyage of the twelve songs we are recording. Imagine a hand with twelve fingers: they all belong to the same hand, make sense in the flesh, but they are all different. That's the secret to these songs, at least for now. For these sessions I was introduced to three new friends: Jesse, Elvis and the later Michael. Now I will let you know how they are:

Elvis is one of those old looking radio microphones that, for instance, Rockabillies and Elvis made famous. Yes the silvered ones, with grids, you see all bands using in videos now. Ourselves included. Elvis is connected to somewhere mysterious, probably just another line with a different FX, but I use it for distorted/radiolike parts. That his job.

Jesse is the main guy. Something born from AKG or similar (I can't bother to check its brand, it's late in the night, brothers and sisters, and it's cold out there and there is an alarm on the studio). He wears a pop stopper (that round thing in front of it to stop the saliva and the pops of going into the record), something you can buy or do with a lady's stockings. Well, better not. Well, it depends. Proceed. I use Jesse to all the main vocals, the closer, the screams, the singing. I named it Jesse. Tue named the other one Elvis (he did it first). This one is named Jessie after Elvis. In legend, Jessie, was supposedly the stillborn twin of Elvis to whom he prayed in the utmost of his anguish. I learnt this from Jonas KATATONIA and he learnt that from Scott Walker that has a song named 'Jesse' on his great, dark piece The Drift. By all means, check it here. Given what I', singing on Jesse, I thought it would be appropriate.

The third and later is Michael as in Jackson. Don't ask me why, ask Tue. I can only promise I am not doing any high pitch vocals. I use it for going even more extreme than with Elvis and in one song we even throw it to the floor. Michael is a contemporary yet old EV, he is black and gold. I don't know…If there was a girl singing here her microphone would be Sandra like in Maria Magdalene. There are girls singing but they did it outside Denmark. You will know. In time.

Recording vocals is always demanding. It involves creating, displaying, right tuning, or in my case almost there tuning, screams are always a piece of cake so it seems, and I am not bragging, just miserably acknowledging my vocal condition, and I have to say Tue makes me at ease, is patient and it's great recording like that. So we went to twelve songs, some in a flow, some in painful trial and error, some nailed to the wall, and some like vocal Lego (yet another Danish creation). The most difficult song for me to record was Scorpion flower but I was rewarded in the end. The most enjoyable was Night Eternal, what a flash!!! And so it came to an end and a growing emptiness just like when I turned page 1111 from World…into acknowledgments. It finished yesterday on what we called the odd day, where I had to go through the tree songs and the intro which I was mostly unprepared. But with patient, weaving and tons of water drank we did it and stepped holding my head high from Vocal World.

(Intermission from Guitar World: Ricardo used Gibson Les Paul e Schecter ultra, Fender acoustic guitar, and Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier, Peavy 5150, Randall, Laboga).

Bottom end

"On Sunday the 20th our good friend Niclas from AMORPHIS arrived to record bass for this one. We had already invited him to do it in The Antidote (2003) and after Waldemar and D.Aires lending us the talent for Memorial and Under, we decided to bring back Nico, our old friend, to nail this bastard down as the songs were thirsty for his style of playing. Veni, vedi, vici. He recorded in two half days, allowed vocal world their one song a day and brought us his Finnish warmth, excellent online tips and a great mood, quite a break from seeing the same aging faces every day.

He arrived just as fast as he left us but the result was quite amazing. We thank him again for the bass, the tips and the great friendship."

Mono dark

"And back to us again. Scattered in the living room, the radiance of our laptop screens almost blinding us. Up and down to the studio, to the house, to the studio, to the house. Doing the dished, cooking the food, making the coffee. Tomorrow we are going for a all downtown, see people, get cold, have a cappuccino on a coffee shop. We must look like vampires by now. White in the face. But full in the heart. Today was the first day of mix and in the comfort of our living room we listened to the three songs Tue brought us before dinner. We listened to them on the stereo Tue set up here for next week's round of listening sessions (around 20 journalists are coming from all around Europe invading the Antfarm precincts, good!) . Then we listened again, traded some opinions and soft blows, look each other in the eyes and diverted the look, had a beer. The songs were 'Age Of Mothers', 'At Tragic Heights' and 'Dreamless (Lucifer And Lilith)'. Then we took notes. Two pages in my incomprehensible calligraphy. We know Tue was got it right but there were few things. His kid came for a shower, we went over it and we errr…agreed on everything almost yeah you know we gotta be honest about this, just details, and indeed they were. But as we were listening to Spirit by Apse Tue noticed something strange: the cable was broken and it was playing in mono. Well…so much for the embarrassment, let's listen to it again. And… it sounded greater!!! It sounded already good in mono but now Great! We can only aspire to the full heart because our head is not what it used to be, really.

A small piece of advice thought. Regardless of what you might think of this album, give it a chance in stereo. Later next week we will round up this Night Eternal diary and then post some pics/videos. I forgot my camera's cable. Please forgive our aging."