Dark Moor was formed in 1993 in Madrid, Spain, and recorded their debut alb… Read Full Bio ↴Dark Moor was formed in 1993 in Madrid, Spain, and recorded their debut album, Shadowland, in the summer of 1999. Dark Moor played live supporting Demons and Wizards on their Spanish tour.

Dark Moor began the recording sessions for their second album, The Hall of the Olden Dreams, in August 2000 at New Sin Studios with producer Luigi Stefanini. During these recording sessions, the band recorded their cover of "Halloween", which was included on the CD The Keepers of Jericho part I - A Tribute to Helloween (Arise Records).

Their E.P. The Fall of Melnibone was released in June 2001. This E.P was a limited edition; 1500 copies were released and only for the Spanish market.

Dark Moor began the recording of their third album, The Gates of Oblivion, in Autumn 2001 at New Sin Studios. Dark Moor signed with the major label JVC for the Asian release. The band played 18 gigs at festivals such as Rock Machina, Viña Rock and Nit De Reis. After the first part of the tour, keyboardist Roberto Peña left the band and they were forced to finish the tour with a guest musician.

In August 2003 Dark Moor recorded four new exclusive acoustic tracks along with a string quartet, to be included in Between Light and Darkness, which was released in April 2003. Due to differing points of view regarding the musical direction for the next Dark Moor album, vocalist Elisa Martin, guitarist Albert Maroto and drummer Jorge Sáez decided to leave Dark Moor to start a new band.

The two remaining members of the band decided to start a search for new members. After the auditions, they accepted vocalist Alfred Romero, guitarist Jose Garrido, and drummer Andy C.

In August 2003, the band started recording their fourth album, Dark Moor, at New Sin Studios in Italy. Following a month of recording sessions, the album was mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios.

On 23 November 2006, the band announced the departure of their drummer on their official website, due to "incompatibility with his other musical projects." He would go on to play drums for Saratoga. His replacement, Roberto Cappa, was previously in the Spanish metal band Anima Sola.

In January 2009, their seventh album Autumnal was released.

The band made an announcement on their website, dated 4 June 2010, that their eighth album was in the works. It featured Berenice Musa as a guest vocalist. The album is titled Ancestral Romance and it was released in November 2010.

On 18 June 2013 the band released their ninth album Ars Musica, with the Japanese limited version including a bonus CD with five bonus tracks. They toured Mexico and Asia the same year, as well as few dates in Europe in 2014 to support the new album.

Dark Moor started recording their 10th studio album, Project X, on 27 July 2015 and released it in Europe on 6 November 2015 on Scarlet Records.

On 21 July 2018, Enrik Garcia, guitarist and founder of the band, announced via Facebook that their next album would be called Origins and that, after the parenthesis they did with ufology themes on Project X, they would return to their habitual themes; Origins will be about the celtic world, also adding celtic instruments on their new songs. This album has been released on 12 December 2018.

Phantom Queen
Dark Moor Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

In my love
I have dreamt of you
Obtaining a view
A cow in the cattle
In my dream
I was in the fight
Focussing the light
A crow in the battle

[Bridge]
But when, at my end, I meet the Great Queen
I shall die happy because I'll have her seen

[Chorus]
And in the fray when I am getting colder
I may support a black crow on my shoulder
My black crow just crackle
Casting me a shackle
And then, I'll know, before feeling me frozen
That I have been by the Phantom Queen chosen
She will be my lover...

The Great Queen
From above
Phantom Queen
Got my love
She is the queen tyrannic
Of love, warfare and panic
The Great Queen
Has ay been
Phantom Queen

At the end
She is there and shows
How my blood-stained clothes
Washes in the river

This is the time of worshipping her figure
Before she extracts from the kidneys its vigour

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Dark Moor's "Phantom Queen" convey the singer's dream of the titular Phantom Queen, who is depicted as a tyrannical figure of love, warfare, and panic. In his dream, he imagines himself in a battle, first as a cow in the cattle and then as a crow in the fight, focusing the light. He expresses his desire to meet the Phantom Queen at the end of his life, hoping to die happy because he'll have seen her. The chorus describes a black crow that he may support on his shoulder when he gets colder in the fray. It casts him a shackle, and he knows he has been chosen by the Phantom Queen, who will be his lover.

The singer's dream of the Phantom Queen seems to be an allegory for death. The cow and crow imagery symbolizes his different states of mind as he approaches death. The Great Queen that he hopes to meet at the end might refer to the goddess of death worshipped by some ancient cultures. The line, "She extracts from the kidneys its vigour," suggests the singer might be alluding to the ancient practice of human sacrifice, where the kidneys were thought to hold the life force. The song's overall tone is dark and brooding, building to the climax of the singer meeting the Phantom Queen.

Line by Line Meaning

In my love
My love for someone

I have dreamt of you
I've had dreams of you

Obtaining a view
Getting a glimpse

A cow in the cattle
Amidst the herd of cattle

In my dream
I dreamt

I was in the fight
I was in the midst of a battle

Focussing the light
Directing my energy

A crow in the battle
In the midst of the battle, there was a crow

But when, at my end, I meet the Great Queen
When I die and meet the Great Queen

I shall die happy because I'll have her seen
I'll die content because I will have seen her

And in the fray when I am getting colder
In the midst of battle, as I begin to feel colder