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.

Shadowland
Dark Moor Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Nobody can be back from that forgotten land
The furthest one, the blac
Lonely and gloomy sand
The bridge′s narrow and thin
The sentry waits patiently
People to pass it
In despair but valiantly
No one reduced his pace

No one looked back with grief
No one changed his face
No one felt relieved
You sense their noisy treads
And look the stone face
And they seem the dead
Of a forgotten race

Last land, last land
With the sword in my hand
Just a word i can hardly say
While our foe we slay... walhalla!
Mighty odin just states
No surrender but defeat
Real warriors learn too late
That die is like to beat
Glory in war is always better
Than honour, love and wealth
Written in golden letters
Present and future destroyed by strength
All of them, have been killed
Wthout dropping their blade
Ranks of gods, have been filled
To make war when giants invades
Valkiries have chooses their sore
Warriors doomed the fall

Leading them into war
In the days of armageddon

Overall Meaning

"Shadowland" by Dark Moor is a song that deals with the concepts of war, honor, and defeat. The lyrics paint a picture of a desolate and forgotten land, the Shadowland, where the dead roam and the living are doomed to pass through on their way to battle. The imagery used in the song is bleak, with references to lonely and gloomy sand, furthest one, and black stones. The bridge leading to the Shadowland is narrow and thin, with a sentry waiting patiently to allow people to pass.

As the warriors make their way through the Shadowland, they are filled with despair but remain valiant. No one changes their face, looks back with grief or feels relieved. They are filled with determination to face their opponents no matter what. The last land is filled with war, and they hold their sword with the sword in their hands, just a word they can hardly say, while defeating their foe; Walhalla. Mighty Odin exhorts them to not surrender but to face defeat with courage, and the real warriors learn too late that death is like to beat.

The song's lyrics speak to the fact that in war, glory is always better than love, honor, and wealth. The present, future, and possibly even the past gets destroyed in the name of power and strength. The ranks of gods are filled to make war when the giants invade. Even the Valkyries have chosen their side, leading warriors to battle in the days of Armageddon. There is no turning back from the Shadowland, only forward to the warfront and, possibly, a glorious death.

Line by Line Meaning

Nobody can be back from that forgotten land
Once you pass through the bridge to Shadowland, you can never return to the real world.

The furthest one, the black
Shadowland is the farthest place from the real world and it's cloaked in darkness.

Lonely and gloomy sand
The land of Shadowland is barren, grey, and gloomy.

The bridge's narrow and thin
The bridge that connects Shadowland and the real world is precarious, difficult to pass, and narrow.

The sentry waits patiently, People to pass it
The guardian of the bridge is crouching on one side, waiting patiently for someone to pass, so they can traverse to the Shadowland side.

In despair but valiantly
People who want to go to Shadowland may feel hopeless but brave to face whatever awaits them there.

No one reduced his pace
Despite entering Shadowland, no one hesitates or slows down, they keep forward at the same pace.

No one looked back with grief
Nobody looks back at the real world because they know they can't go back; hence, there is no point in feeling sorrow for it.

No one changed his face
The travelers have a stoic demeanor, and they don't display any hint of emotion.

No one felt relieved
People who enter Shadowland do not feel relieved as they face uncertainty and danger at every step.

You sense their noisy treads
You can hear footsteps and the clanging of swords in the Shadowland.

And look the stone face
The people who went to Shadowland appear statuesque in their manner and expression.

And they seem the dead, Of a forgotten race
People who go to Shadowland no longer look alive, they appear as if they were like the forgotten ones.

Last land, last land, With the sword in my hand
The land of Shadowland is a world where the traveler can expect to engage in combat; thus, the sword is the only salvation.

Just a word I can hardly say, While our foe, we slay... Walhalla!
'Walhalla' is the only word one can say while they fight in Shadowland and slaughter their enemies.

Mighty Odin just states, No surrender but defeat
Odin, a powerful god, advises not to give up, but to fight until death when confronting an enemy.

Real warriors learn too late, That die is like to beat
Real warriors come to understand that death is like a drawn-out, difficult battle, something that one doesn't want to lose, but it will happen.

Glory in war is always better, Than honour, love and wealth
Warriors only seek honor and glory in a world of the Shadowlands, and these gains are worth more than love or wealth.

Written in golden letters, Present and future destroyed by strength
Mighty men with power and strength have erased history and future time with their deeds recorded with golden ink.

All of them, have been killed, Without dropping their blade
Even the bravest warriors didn't go down without a fight, they died fighting without losing their weapon.

Ranks of gods, have been filled, To make war when giants invades
The gods from the mythology are called to join the ranks of the warriors to fight against the giants' invasion in Shadowland.

Valkiries have chooses their sore, Warriors doomed the fall
The valkyrie chooses the fall victim fighting for the glory and boost of the invader's exultation of victory.

Leading them into war, In the days of armageddon
The warriors and gods move forward into the great and final battle, in the Shadowland's Armageddon.

Writer(s): Albert Maroto, Anan Kaddouri, Elisa C. Martin, Enrik Garcia, Jorge Sáez, Roberto. P. De Camus

Contributed by Ethan H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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