Title: The Anatomy of Melancholy
Artist: Paradise Lost
Genre: Gothic Metal
Release Date: 23rd May 2008
Label: Century Media Records
Introduction
You don’t have to make many words about this band so I will make this introduction as short as possible for you. 2007 saw the release of the new PARADISE LOST album ‘In Requiem’ which was to become a great success. It was still about a month to go until the album release when PARADISE LOST played a sold-out live gig at the Koko in London which was recorded for a DVD release.
Line-up
Nick Holmes - Vocals
Greg Mackintosh - Lead Guitar
Aaron Aedy - Rhythm Guitar
Steve Edmondson - Bass Guitar
Jeff Singer - Drums
Website
http://www.paradiselost.co.uk/ / http://www.yspace.com/paradiselostuk
Detailed Review
As the band is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year, this is the perfect point in time to release this recording. It is entitled ‘The Anatomy of Melancholy’ and is available in several formats. The edition I received contains both the 2 DVDs and the 2 CDs containing the concert. Already the packaging is way beyond the ordinary and comes embalmed in a precious digi book. The artwork was again designed by the Greek artist Seth, who also created the illustrations for ‘In Requiem’. The figure on the front cover seems to be an abstract form of an anatomic model with two faces, maybe to visualize, the melancholy’s more than just one facet. If we fold out the digi, there’s a b/w picture showing the band at the concert. I think the decision not to use a coloured one instead was very wise. It just appears more precious in my opinion. The inside also reveals more beautiful illustrations and a detailed booklet with liner notes to every track by the band, giving some interesting insights.
The track list contains 21 tracks in total including one additional which is not mentioned and obviously wasn’t planned to appear on it but I’m glad it did after all. Songs from almost every album the band has ever released, landed on the list, starting with the live premier of ‘The Enemy’ over ‘So Much is Lost’ and ‘No Celebration’ to such classics like the beautiful ‘Gothic’ and ‘Forever Failure’.
Let’s have a look at the visual part now, which is especially important for such a release, because when the recording and therefore the picture is bad it can spoil the whole fun of watching a concert DVD. In case of the PARADISE LOST DVD, there’s nothing to complain and I really took a closer look at the picture but it always remained sharp and clear, especially important as the picture’s often dark and some encoders tend to make the picture grainy in such situations. The cuts during the concert are not too fast, so you really get the chance to see what happens before the camera skips to the next perspective. As for the performance: The joy of playing on the band’s side is really sensible and it’s just great fun to watch them treating their instruments. Nick delivers a remarkable vocal performance and while performing ‘Gothic’ he almost grunts as deep as he did on the same-titled album back in 1991 and it was a big surprise for the fans as well as the band hasn’t played this one live in years.
It doesn’t spoil anything to say that the mood was absolutely fantastic during the whole show, seeing the people mosh, clapping their hands or sing along with Nick who had a good grip on the audience right away. He just needed to make a simple gesture or demand and the audience did as it was told. The spotlights bathed the whole scenery in powerful darker colours. What’s to say about the sound? Well at least to my ears it sounds amazing. The engineers put a lot of effort in working out the live atmosphere of that evening without neglecting a clear, differentiating sound of the music. I would say they found the right balance. One can feel the stream of emotions running through the venue and you’re feeling like being in the middle of it all, going along with the sound and stuff like that and you just can’t sit still while watching this show, there’s just so much energy that it’s absolutely impossible.
The second DVD goes much more behind the scenes featuring an interview with the band where we learn that Nick and Aaron would be location managers if PARADISE LOST wouldn’t exist because it’s just great to hang around and to drive expensive cars (great job indeed). Following right behind are some small interviews with fans in front of the venue, who were all very enthusiastic about the show lying behind them. The next stop is the European tour report. I always find it interesting to see some footage from behind the scenes and what’s going on aside from the stage, otherwise I probably would have never learned something about Jeff’s German skills and the PARADISE LOST Internet Café :)
And as if that wasn’t enough, there are two promo videos i.e.: ‘The Enemy’ and one for ‘Praise Lamented Shade’ which is basically a live video and a short trailer for the tour documentary ‘Over the Madness’. And for those who also want to enjoy the concert on their home stereo, there’s a the complete concert split up on two CDs as well
Cover Picture
Tracklist
DVD1
01. Intro
02. The Enemy
03. Grey
04. Erased
05. Red Shift
06. So Much is Lost
07. Sweetness
08. Praise Lamented Shade
09. Pity The Sadness
10. Forever Failure
11. Once Solemn
12. As I Die
13. Embers Fire
14. Mouth
15. No Celebration
16. Eternal
17. True Belief
18. One Second
19. The Last Time
20. Gothic
21. Say Just Words
DVD2
- Interview with Paradise Lost
- Fans at the Koko
- Lost in Europe (2007 Tour Report)
Promo Videos
01. The Enemy
02. Praise Lamented Shade
03. Over the Madness (Documentary Trailer)
CD 1
01. Intro
02. The Enemy
03. Grey
04. Erased
05. Red Shift
06. So Much is Lost
07. Sweetness
08. Praise Lamented Shade
09. Pity The Sadness
10. Forever Failure
11. Once Solemn
12. As I Die
CD 2
01. Embers Fire
02. Mouth
03. No Celebration
04. Eternal
05. True Belief
06. One Second
07. The Last Time
08. Gothic
09. Say Just Words
Rating
Audio: 9
Video: 9
Concert: 9
Extras: 7
Total: 8.5
Conclusion
The packaging alone is already worth the money but much more important is what’s on the silver discs inside and this is truly impressing and a worthy live document for a band which is in this business for that long and the setlist should please every fan. The audio is also available in 5.1; unfortunately I don’t own such a system yet. But even in stereo the sound is really great. Collectors can also get the whole concert as Double Vinyl. To cut a long story short: An all around felicitous release.
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