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.
The City Of Peace
Dark Moor Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
With bright foams of silver
And the wind's an aromatic stroke.
Where come people's living
In peace, and God's giving
His blessed grace to the peaceful folks.
In its last stages,
It's flourishing a new paradigm.
In this place, three cultures
From cots to sepultures,
Have come out to a convivial time.
In the city of peace
It's shining high the oldish star,
Near by the moon,
Over the cross.
The example and its echoes are
Astounding, soon,
The world across.
The moon, the cross,
And so, the star
Are all the forms of the same God who is so far.
The moon, the cross,
And so, the star
Together, are of peace and love the avatar.
In the city of peace.
It's shining high the oldish star,
Near by the moon,
Over the cross.
The example and its echoes are
Astounding, soon,
The world across.
City of peace,
Divine caprice,
You are the city of faiths' intercross,
O, you,
City of peace,
Of moon, star
And cross...
The lyrics to Dark Moor's "The City of Peace" refer to a utopian city that is characterized by the resounding river with bright foams of silver, an aromatic stroke of the wind, and where people live in harmony, grace and peace. The song talks of three cultures from cradles to graves that have come out to a convivial time, and how this city blazed a new paradigm in the Middle Ages, where everyone lived in harmony. The chorus describes the city with shining stars and the moon, and also how the moon, the cross, and the star are all forms of the same God who is far away. The city of peace is a land where all religions interact, flourishing and living in harmony.
The song's lyrics are an ode to medieval Spain's "Convivencia" – the period when Muslims, Jews, and Christians lived together in relative peace and harmony. It was a time of relative tolerance where each of the three religions living in Spain could work, learn and worship without fear. The refrain of the song ties together three symbols of different religions which strongly evoke peace and love: the moon, a symbol of Islam; the cross, a Christian symbol, and the star, a Jewish symbol. These symbols together represent the origins of the Abrahamic religions that grew up in the Middle East.
Line by Line Meaning
Where resounds the river
With bright foams of silver
And the wind's an aromatic stroke.
In a place where the river flows with shimmering light and the wind carries a sweet fragrance.
Where come people's living
In peace, and God's giving
His blessed grace to the peaceful folks.
Where people live in peace and God showers his blessings upon them.
In the Middle Ages,
In its last stages,
It's flourishing a new paradigm.
During the Middle Ages, in its final stages, a new way of life is blossoming.
In this place, three cultures
From cots to sepultures,
Have come out to a convivial time.
In this place, three cultures have coexisted in harmony from birth till death.
In the city of peace
In the city that fosters peace.
It's shining high the oldish star,
Near by the moon,
Over the cross.
A star, long known, shines brightly near the moon, above the cross.
The example and its echoes are
Astounding, soon,
The world across.
The magnificence of this example and its influence will soon be known worldwide.
The moon, the cross,
And so, the star
Are all the forms of the same God who is so far.
The moon, cross, and star, each represent the same God who is far beyond us.
The moon, the cross,
And so, the star
Together, are of peace and love the avatar.
Together, the moon, cross, and star embody peace and love.
In the city of peace.
In the city of peace.
City of peace,
Divine caprice,
You are the city of faiths' intercross,
O, you,
City of peace,
Of moon, star
And cross...
The city of peace, a manifestation of divine will, is the intersection of different faiths. Oh city of peace, where the moon, star, and cross shine...
Contributed by Emma N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.