| CD REVIEW Eldritch |
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Band : Eldritch For the first time in their 17-year career, Italy’s Eldritch bring us a live album, recorded apparently at some festival (sorry I can’t be more specific, our promo material was restricted purely to the two CDs, and we didn’t even get any extra info what-so-ever) which took place at the Music Street Live Club in Pisa (Italy) on March the 22nd of 2008…and a double disc one with a total duration of almost two hours to boot! After introducing the show with a nice instrumental opening titled “in the House, In A Heartbeat”, you’ll find the band (singer Terence Holler, guitarists Rob Proietti and Eugene Simone, bassist John Crystal, and drummer Raffaele Dridge) drawing material mostly from their two last albums (from 2007’s Blackenday, there’s “Why”, “The Deep Sleep”, “The Blackened Day”, “The Child That Never Smiles”, and “Silent Frame”; off 2006’s Neighbourhell, you’ll be pleased to find “Save Me”, “Standing Still”, “Bless me Now”, “More Than Marylin”, and “Toil Of Mine”, which is also the closing track of the first part of the show, and of disc one), adding the title track off 2001’s Reverse as well as “the World Apart” and “The Everlasting Mind Disease” off 2004’s Portrait Of the Abyss Within, finishing the first disc with a duration of almost 59 ½ minutes. Then, and Toller already reveals the “surprise” before starting the last track on disc one, the band goes into a couple of tracks off the El Niño album (1998) with the aid of former Eldritch member and keyboardist Oleg Smirnoff. In fact, they bring the five first songs off that album (the instrumental opener “Fall From Grace”, followed by “No Direction Home”, “Heretic Beholder”, “Scar” and “Blood Mask Blood”) and throw in “From Dusk Til Dawn” and “Nebula Surface” for good measure as well! The guys then go back in time a little more with two tracks (“Ghoulish Gift” & “Lord Of An Empty Space”) off their 1997 sophomore album Headquake, before finishing the evening with the song “Incurably Ill” off their 1995 debut album Seeds Of Rage. The second disc, by the way, lasts almost 58 minutes. For those among you who still feel that ain’t enough, know then that this live album also comes in a limited version including a bonus DVD…or does the DVD come with the “normal” version of the album as well (I can’t understand that quite correctly from the info I got off the label’s website)? Anyways, there’s noot much I can tell you about thàt, as the DVD simply wasn’t included in the promo, and no info was available at all! No matter what, I’m sure the Eldritch fans are gonna have a fireld day over this one! As this IS a live album, I’m not gonna rate it…and for once an Eldritch album is nót gonna get into my year-lists…simply because Mr. Holler’s performance wasn’t always quite up to its perfect studio album qualilty (I still wouldn’t have wanted to miss this, though)! Tony. |