I think that they emphasized the songs more on 'Once Upon The Cross' and their tour album 'Serpents of the Light.' Their first album I don't think they really were up to par on--not nearly as fast and Glen could've emphasized more on screams then low end vocals. I remember reading that he said that he was drunk when they recorded their first release. I don't doubt that, but he sounded like he was possessed on that one. I think it was his best output. The low end vocals just bore me, he doesn't put in enough intensity on, that was my issue here with this live release. It's also an issue with the more current way that he sounds. On here some screaming, but not much.
Brian and Eric were on cue regarding the rhythms as mentioned, though they didn't really captivate me in the lead department. There could've been more intensity and aggression. It seemed that they lacked that. But still one helluv an effort by the band altogether. The drums were on cue, though the double bass was a little hard to hear. I know live recordings are a little bit tougher to capture all of the sounds. So in effect, it has a wear than on the studio versions. It's up to the band members as well if they want to improvise or play what's strictly from the album. I feel that they improvised a little bit on the leads and not so much on the rhythms. Glen was mostly low end bellows.
They should've played more than 1 track from 'Legion', the only song they played was "Dead But Dreaming." It was good though that they played a lot from the first album. That one I think is the most intense Deicide release ever. Their improvisation again was in the lead department, they didn't show as much intensity that they should've. I don't care if they didn't have White Castle sliders that day, even if they did, they could've put forth a better recording than what was on here. I'm not being hard on the band and I'm glad that at least the original members were with the band putting forth this effort that took place in Chicago circa 1998.
I wish that I could've attended this gig, but I caught them on a brief session on 'Once Upon The Cross' tour of which they only played for 15 minutes because someone spit on Glen. After that they just walked off the stage. Pretty disappointing. But here they capture the audience with about an hour long live session, that I don't think is higher than a C rating. But they still did a good job. It's better than what they're putting out nowadays. Without the Hoffman brothers, Deicide will never be the same. I think that a lot of people
Rate: 75%.
Reviewed By Death8699 ([email protected]).