On July 3rd, 2026, MOONSPELL return via Napalm Records with Far From God, a record born out of five years of creative searching, doubt and ultimate rediscovery. Far from playing it safe, the Portuguese pioneers deliver a work that feels like a rebirth: darker, sharper and emotionally unfiltered. Rather than bending to modern trends, MOONSPELL double down on identity and substance. Far From God is a bold and beautiful statement of Gothic Metal in its purest form: dark, romantic, dramatic and unapologetically heavy.
The first single and album title track, “Far From God”, sets the album’s tone with burning intensity. A hymn to tragic vampiric love, the song revives the mystique and romantic darkness that once defined the genre, while layered keyboards subtly expand the atmosphere without softening its heaviness. Dense guitars, deep resonant vocals and dramatic dynamic shifts evoke a timeless gothic aesthetic, restoring danger and elegance to the narrative of the vampire.
Fernando Ribeiro comments on the track:
“I lost my faith and hope in vampires for quite a few years.
They became the clowns of Hollywood, the cheap Halloween shop customs, the old and disgraceful Princes from the East. Until the film director Robert Eggers brought us Nosferatu in 2024 and I was immediately attracted back to that tragic, romantic character who Bram Stoker immortalised in his letters. I wrote "Far from God" in just one breath and it’s our first song about vampiric love in ages. I confess I felt the urge of, together with Moonspell, saving the face of Gothic Metal which became hostage of semi-tuned operatic female vocalists, simpleton and crunchy guitar riffs; and of lyrical content that would make Dracula impale himself with a stake in his bloodless heart. This song is the essence of this album, its title, its video, its soul. And you can even feel the fire of daylight burning into yours and your lover’s skin.”
The video shot in Latvia and was directed by Pavel Trebukhin for Tre.Film:
“Cross Your Heart” is the first track from Far From God and reveals a more affirmative side of the album, built on brooding melodic motifs and grounded, deliberate riff work that balances restraint and impact. Echoing the spirit of the band’s past while embracing a modern, shadowed edge, the song reflects on roadside shrines and lives lost too soon; the steady forward drive of the rhythm section mirrors the endless motion of the road itself. Fernando Ribeiro’s unmistakable and singular vocal presence, moving between low gravitas and restrained intensity, reinforces the song’s emotional weight without excess.
With “The Great Wolf in the Sky” feat. Alicia Nuhro (strings), MOONSPELL deliver one of the album’s most epic moments, structured around expansive keyboard themes, harmonized guitar lines and a chorus built for collective resonance. Melancholic yet powerful, the track stands as a tribute to wolves who once walked alongside the band and to a fan and friend who passed before hearing the album, bridging MOONSPELL’s past, present and future in one sweeping, dignified anthem.
Thematically, Far From God moves through Baudelairian love, existential guilt and redemption, Christlike resurrections and the quiet nobility of creatures of the night. Vampires, werewolves and sacred symbolism are not escapism here, but vehicles for genuine dark emotion: solemn, romantic and unfiltered. The album rejects artificial gloss in favour of fantasy grounded in sincerity, rediscovering the heart of Gothic Metal in its most authentic form.
The cover art was produced by the renowned artist Eliran Kantor (previous artworks by him include bands such as Testament, My Dying Bride and Kreator, just to name a few) and features an original painting that brilliantly illustrates the album concept.
I hope you like it as much as I do."
Eliran Kantor
The cover art was produced by the renowned artist Eliran Kantor (previous artworks by him include bands such as Testament, My Dying Bride and Kreator, just to name a few) and features an original painting that brilliantly illustrates the album concept.
" I had an idea in my head for a piece for a long time and was awaiting the right album to flesh it out, an opportunity to do something really different from all of our peers, memorable and unique. I also wanted to avoid wolves in order to create a "new classic" Moonspell cover that won't carry any nostalgia or comparison to all the new "wolf" bands, and also use an allegory for distancing yourself from deep held beliefs instead of having a specific religious symbol or figure on the cover representing "god". Imagine if "Vulgar Display of Power" was called "A Punch to the Face" - all of a sudden the great artwork becomes too predictable. That's why I wanted to use another layer of allegory for FAR FROM GOD, to get the essence of the metaphor in the title: distancing from what is perceived as divine. The divine is love and the human connection, and from what is held as a comforting place.
I was imagining a scene that at first glance looks as if it is about love, yet when you examine it, it is about estrangement , as it reveals its deadly and sinister plan, as the main character is luring the other to come under the blade.
It serves as an allegory for all the last goodbyes, maybe those you don't realize were the last, how love intersects with loss, and about how it FEELS to let go. To pull that rope and drop the blade, sever ties. It connects with the gothic classicism of the music as the marriage of beauty and death.
I hope you like it as much as I do."
Eliran Kantor
MOONSPELL’s forthcoming magnum opus – produced with Jaime Gomez Arellano (Paradise Lost, Sólstafir, Ghost among many others) – shines like a black diamond, luminous yet shadowed in texture and colour, both musically and sonically. It reconnects with the darker spirit of MOONSPELL’s classic era while sounding powerful and contemporary.
Far From God is not nostalgia; it is a statement. A Gothic Metal hallelujah. MOONSPELL’s Irreligious of the 21st century. It’s not only a powerful reminder that MOONSPELL remain a defining force in the genre they helped shape, but an album that will truly save Gothic Metal from boredom and predictability!
Far From God tracklist
Far From God tracklist
1. Cross Your Heart
2. Far From God
3. Biblical
4. The Great Wolf in the Sky feat. Alicia Nuhro
5. Your Promise of Light
6. For the Love of Mortals
7. Our Freedom to Fall
8. Reconquista
You can preorder the new album from these outlets and exclusive variants:
OFFICIAL SHOP
PHOTO BY BEATRIZ MARIANO