It is just unbelievable how cocky some bands are. I just received the new live album Livequake from Italian Metallers Eldritch and the accompanying bio speaks of their seventeen year ‘reign’. If they really reigned the metal world, I wouldn’t need to use the adjective Italian now would I? Who ever writes a review these days of let’s say Slayer and have to mention that they are from the U.S.? I know you need to write in a certain way to get noticed, but there’s no need to exaggerate.

 

Now Eldritch started out labelling itself as being a progressive metal band. A testimony of that past is present on the second disk. It contains their earliest material which kind of falls into that category. But I can’t say that it really is a revelation. Sure, the material is performed well and it isn’t exactly your amateur stuff either. You could debate about how progressive this material really is. These songs sound like the archetypal 100-notes-per-minute in the vein of let’s say Symphony X. Not really compelling stuff though.

 

The first disk represents the newer material and is your standard power metal unleashed every week by numerous bands. A live album means playing your best stuff live and is in a way a greatest hits album for a band. I wasn’t too excited about their last studio effort Blackenday, so I wondered if the live album could make up for it. The first thing you notice when you go through the live tracks is the lack of enthusiasm from the audience towards the performed songs. Not one song is heavily welcomed when the first notes are played. It sounds to me that the audience cheer out of respect for the band rather than they really like the material. No singing along anywhere, were there actually people present who know their songs? Recorded in Pisa in their homeland, you should expect a few punters who know the material.

It is also striking that singer Terence Holler with 17 years of experience under his belt has such a boring way of announcing songs. ‘Now we are going to do this and this song from that album and after we’ve done that we have a surprise for you we’re going to play that song.’ Not much of a surprise if you announce it beforehand. Yes, the band plays pretty ok, and that is just the problem. You’re not going to reign when you’re just ok. Classic albums like Live After Death and Live: Decade of Aggression aren’t renowned for technical perfection. They are great because they have a certain vibe. And that’s exactly what’s missing on Livequake, which reduces this release for fans only. I don’t expect the upcoming DVD version is going to change that.