by Stewart Mason
Fans of the Portuguese doom metal act Moonspell know exactly what they're going to get, and the band consistently delivers it. Doomy goth metal with stentorian vocals that owe much to Bauhaus' Peter Murphy, symphonic keyboards in the Nightwish tradition, proggy extended arrangements, all over basic black metal riffing and blastbeat drumming: it's all here on The Great Silver Eye. And at this point in their lengthy career -- The Great Silver Eye is their tenth album in 12 years -- that's about all they're going to deliver. There are no change-ups on The Great Silver Eye, no intimation of a new artistic direction, and for fans, none is needed. Epic blasts of growly doom like the nearly-eight-minute opener "Wolfshade (A Werewolf Masquerade)" and choral neo-prog like "Full Moon Madness" will not convince those with no predilection for the style, but the previously converted will be happy.