Album Review: Moonspell's Sin/Pecado

The Honorable Mentions of 2020 are here fellow Otaku & Metalheads.

Okay, the first half of them are. We’re taking a look at the other two next month, but for now we got some Moonspell to cover for May. I’ve spoken pretty highly of Portugal’s biggest ever since I started covering them all the way back in 2017 (Read Here), and I’ve been listening to them since 2013. Today’s review was one that technically didn’t come out in 2020, but re-released in late 2019. The 13th of December, to be exact. Because of such a late release, it seemed appropriate to grandfather it into the most plague-ridden year of recent memory, and I’m glad I did in hindsight. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy my review for Moonspell’s 1998 classic, Sin/Pecado. Let’s begin.

Background
Taken from Part 1 of my overview on the band. *

“Despite the success of Irreligious, there was trouble on the horizon for Moonspell. Due to lawsuits, original bassist Ares left, and was subsequently replaced by Sérgio Crestana. Once he was fitted into the band, it was time to crank out their 3rd album, and in 1997 the band did their work in Woodhouse Studio, located in Hagen, Germany. Then, on the 3rd of February, 1998, Sin/Pecado was released. Translated as Without/Sin (Pecado is the Portugese word for “Sin”), the album was something of a departure from their previous 2 releases, as Moonspell went for a more experimental route. There was little in the way of their Black & Death Metal roots, as their Gothic aspect was heightened, and the usage of keyboards brought in something of a Electronic/Industrial component. The end result almost comes across like a precursor to Kreator’s Endorama, which would be released a year later. Personally, I like what the band has done here: while some of their early stylings is gone, the new pieces added create something radically different from what first came out. This would actually hurt the band in the next year....but I’ll get to that in a bit.”

*: My description in this review is somewhat different than how I first described it back in October of 2018.

Basic Description
90s Goth Goodness.

Goth music might have had it’s roots in the 80s, but it was in the 1990s where the flowers bloomed. Type-O Negative’s heyday was from that time, and Paradise Lost showed off some of their best work from that time as well, and Moonspell is no exception either. They already showed off what they could do with Wolfheart in 1995, and proved that they were willing to improve & diversify their music with Irreligious. Sin/Pecado, obviously, is an advancement of the previously mentioned record: there are similar vibes for sure, but the band try a few new things here so the album doesn’t completely sound like their prior work. There’s the Extreme Metal and the Goth & Progressive rock elements they’re known for, but they also experimented with stuff like Electronica, Industrial, and even Folk if you can believe it. Metal Archives reviewer Lukretion describes Sin/Pecado as an album that has a “unmistakable Mediterranean warmth in the sound”. He goes on to say that “It is one of those fully immersive records that take you by the hand and transport you in a completely different universe where you can lose yourself for a while, marveling at the strange sonic creatures you encounter along the way”, and I completely agree. There’s just some kind of exotic warmth all over this release, and it somehow stays with you for a while after you’re done listening to the record.....which is always a plus if you ask me.

Best Track
I stated this when I did part one of my overview of the band all the way back in October of 2018, but Second Skin was just a perfect track. It had the right pacing, the right instrumentation, the right atmosphere, incredible vocal work from Fernando Ribeiro, and thanks to the touches to the recording, it sounds better & even newer somehow. Even if the music wasn’t touched up on for this re-issue, it’s still a powerful and sensual song that just hits all the right notes from beginning to end, and doesn’t let up at any point.

Second Skin

Worst Track
Really, the only fault in Sin/Pecado’s name would be the dated 90's vibes. Now, I’m a huge sucker for stuff like that, regardless of whether or not the album in question has been remastered or not. This is a fault that’s only going to make people who aren’t exactly a fan of 90s metal react, and in which case why would you have listened to this album.....or read this review for that matter.

Other
If you’re curious about listening to this album, then click on the link below:

Sin/Pecado

Overall Impression & Rating
Sin/Pecado was just fantastic back in the day, and is still great now. The band were still comfortable in their gothic wheelhouse that they established in 1995, but they weren’t afraid to experiment with new things in an effort to grow & diversify their music. While the 90s vibes are off-putting to only a handful of people, the nostalgia vibes of that era come in hard for those that love it. If you missed the album back in the day, or you just want a nice slice of late 90s Gothic cheese, Sin/Pecado will be quite the tasty slice.

Sin/Pecado gets a 9 out of 10.

So that was my review for Sin/Pecado. A wonderful advancement from their previous 2 releases, it showed that Moonspell was comfortable in trying new things while staying their path. With it’s re-release from 2019 (That I grandfathered into 2020), a new generation of fans that might have missed it back in 1998 get to experience it for the first time. So, join me at the end of May for the other release of Moonspell that came out in 2020. Until then, take care!

Game Review: Doom 64

Happy beginning of May fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

I don’t know how we’re all still here in my home country. The political landscape keeps getting worse, our living conditions keep getting worse, and who knows what will happen to us in the future. However, I don’t want to think about it too much, so let’s skip all of that & take a look at something that’s more fun. Back in March, I reviewed the beast that was Doom: Eternal. An absolute modern classic when it comes to slaying the forces of Hell, it set the table for what is sure to be a smash success with Doom: The Dark Ages in a few weeks. However, there wasn’t just one game at the no. 1 spot back in 2020 for me. A surprise from the Nintendo 64's past came back officially for the first time ever, remastered & given some new blood thanks to additional content made just for the occasion. It was such an experience for me, that it had to be at no. 1 standing beside the giant of 2020. So, dust off your old armor from Mars, load up your shotgun, and get ready for my review of Doom 64. Let’s begin!

Story
Like the games before it, Doom 64 does not have the deepest story, but what little we do have is interesting. Following the events of Doom, Doom 2, and Final Doom, a policy was established by the U.A.C. to quarantine the research installations with apocalyptic levels of radiation. As the years go by, the installations were completely abandoned & silent, but one day a satellite that was long forgotten and subjected to the radiation managed to send a message back to Earth. Within the message, it was indicated that an entity, with vast rejuvenation powers and masked by the extreme radiation, escaped being detected in its crippled state. The entity systematically began altering decaying dead carnage back into corrupted living tissue, resurrecting all the demons that were killed before. As the only survivor of what would be called the Doom episodes, the Marine was sent back in alone to exterminate the demons & the entity. He later realizes that the demons planned this, after he unknowingly allowed himself to be lured back into Hell. With the aid of the Unmaker, he fights the hordes of demons, and eventually encounters the entity that would eventually be known as the Mother Demon. Upon slaying the Mother Demon, the Marine decides to stay in hell forever to make sure that no demon uprising ever happens again, on account of him not being able to have a normal life anymore.

Things get even more intriguing when it comes to the Lost Levels from the 2020 remaster. It turns out that the Mother Demon had a sister, known as the Resurrector. The Resurrector banishes the Marine back to a UAC base (Whether it was part of one he went to already or not, it’s never said), and this banishment forces him to fight his way back to Hell to stop the Demons. These levels branch the storyline between the original titles, and with Doom in 2016 & Eternal. Maybe it’s a little forced, but it still works out in the end.

Setting
Kinda like the original Doom, we’ve got a mix of human military bases & facilities, but a majority of the time we’re in hell. Due to the graphics (More on that later), each & ever level is dripping in atmosphere. So much atmosphere, in fact, that it almost feels like going through Quake more than a Doom game. Everything is soaked in an otherworldly dread: the Mars locales don’t feel completely within the realm of reality, while the various Hell locales are at the crossroads of Gothic & Lovecraftian (Doom 3 had a similar vibe, btw). This was never fully achieved in the Doom games prior to this, but Doom 64 manages to easily!

Characters
Unlike Doom 2016, Doom: Eternal, and the incoming Doom: The Dark Ages around the middle of this month, Doom 64 is more along the lines of the Doom Marine than the Slayer. Save for what we know from the minimum story, there’s nothing to the Doom Marine when it comes to his character & personality, but that’s okay. Back in the day, FPS games were more about the gameplay than the storytelling, and that’s no different here.

Gameplay
For the most part, Doom 64 is exactly the same as Final Doom & the Doom games before it. Run & gun, find keys and secrets, solve simple puzzles, etc. What makes things somewhat different are a few things. Pacing is a big change: while charging into a room of enemies is still valid, the Quake vibes due to it’s setting implies a small level of caution. Again, sometimes charging in works, but now it pays to be somewhat cautious & look around before guns go blazing. This also applies to enemies, as while the roster isn’t as big as that of Doom 2 (Believe the reduction was due to cartridge size), the ones that have stayed have been changed in small ways. Lost Souls, for example, have less health but are more aggressive, while Cyberdemons actually leader their target somewhat. The lone new demon that was added was the Nightmare Imp, which is similar to the Specter version of the Pinky Demon, but throws a purple fireball that travels faster than a standard imp projectile. Finally, the way that some of the weapons function changes combat slightly. The Rocket launcher slightly pushes the player back, and the projectile from the BFG explodes in more of a cone-shape pattern. We get a new weapon in the form of the Unmaker, and it’s a bit interesting. A laser weapon, when you first get it the damage isn’t much, but if you find the 3 secret levels, it does increase in power to the point where it’s a bit over the top, and it can hit multiple targets. There’s another reason that the secret levels are important, but I don’t want to spoil it in case any of you are new to the game, and are reading this.

Graphics & Sound
It may surprise first time players, but Doom 64's graphics are that of the original Doom! Highly advanced most definitely, but it’s still the original graphics engine underneath. There’s more colorful lighting, more detailed textures, enemies have newer models with extra details, and is capable of doing some interesting tricks thanks to some special coding, but it’s the exact same engine you first saw all the way back in 1993. If there is one issue with the graphics, and even then I think it was only on the Nintendo 64, it would be that the lighting at times was a bit too dark in places. It’s only mildly around on the PC Port, and thanks to the remastering, it’s more of a nuisance than anything.

Sound has changed quite a bit when compared to the prior Doom games. Instead of a metallic-like soundtrack, the music in 64 is more ambient & atmospheric, which just lends to the Quake vibes all the more. The monsters also have changed when it comes to the noises they make, and while some still sound demonic, others are more bestial & feral. It makes the overall experience familiar, yet somewhat different at the same time. Finally, some levels have great background noise, as sometimes you can hear thunder or some other creepy sound throughout your exploration. Definitely a nice cherry on the sundae!

Overall & Rating
Doom 64 didn’t deserve to be placed in the “Cult” status back in the day. True, being called it’s final name instead of what it originally was didn’t help matters (Doom: The Absolution), but even if that wasn’t the case it’s still a crime. Maybe not as graphically advanced as other titles, it still manages to pull some tricks out of it’s hat in many ways, and the end result is a Doom experience that’s unique yet familiar. If you didn’t play this obscure masterpiece back in 1997, then get yourself the remaster, and see what it’s fans are talking about.

Doom 64 gets a 10 out of 10. The Lost Levels get a 9 out of 10, but that’s due to the shorter length than anything else.

And that was my review for Doom 64. Obscured by it’s name & the powerhouse of other games from around that time, it still manages to be an action packed experience that’s still nice nearly 30 years later. Whether you’re new to the FPS genre, or a veteran that’s looking for something special, Doom 64 is for you! So, join me for the rest of the month, when we’ll revisit one of my favorite musical exports of Portugal. See you around the middle of the month!



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If you’d like to see a walkthrough of the main game & the Lost Levels, then click on the links below:

DOOM 64 - Gameplay Walkthrough FULL GAME (Remastered)

Doom 64 Lost Levels (PS4) Full Playthrough