Alright then, since this is after all music, surely I can write about how the live versions manifest themselves, etc. Well, I hit a brick wall there. There isn't really that much to say, since these versions really aren't all that different than the album versions. Now some people may like that, I don't know, but I don't really find that all that exciting for a live realise. For me at least, one of the appeals of live music is that you really don't know how exactly you are going to experience the music, even if you know beforehand what songs the band is going to play and have heard them all before (this is especially crucial for an album that captures a live performance). You don't know how exactly you are going to feel, and in my experience which is mostly semi or fully DIY extreme or indie shows, you don't know how you are going to hear things. You can't anticipate that in this particular part you only hear one guitar instead of two and therefore experience the riff in a totally different way, or that for most of the gig you might only hear a flatulent bass pummelling everything else into submission and silence. You can't anticipate at which moment the vocalist's mic fails and at which moment the drummer loses a stick and can't play the snare. You don't know how exactly things are going to sound, with bands often times using amps and drum sets they are unaccustomed to.
On Live in Reykjavík, Iceland virtually none of this can be heard. Don't get me wrong, it's nice that for the most part no equipment failed or nobody missed a note, but there's almost nothing, aside from hearing the acoustics of the room they're playing in, that tells me this is a live show. Occasionally you can tell it's live since the guitar is played slightly different to the album version, but if anything, it's for the worse and not the better. The energetic "There are Some Remedies Worse than Disease" for example, loses a lot of the energy you get on the album version.
From what limited I can grasp, since this is audio only, it seems like This Will Destroy You played the show with more precision than passion. This to me is corroborated by the fact that apparently most of the band played the show sitting down (told to me by someone who attended the show), which does not help set the mood. I mean, to each his own and all that, but personally, in music like this that has its energetic bursts, having everyone sitting down is just quite boring. I've seen this in what I've seen on youtube from these guys, and frankly it just looks like they're not having that much fun playing live. But who knows, they could all just be really socially awkward.
I said earlier that there's little that tells me this is a live recording. With that said, obviously the sound on this thing is very good. That is also to be expected, seeing as they've released this and everything. However, with the perfect sound and precision and everything, it all just sounds too mechanical and less human. They seem to play with less passion than precision.
So for me the bottom line basically is, why would you buy this? You aren't getting anything new. You aren't getting anything you wouldn't hear on the album versions. This is a good release and everything, but provides nothing new. It's just there. It's good music, but it's music that's already been released basically the same as it can be found here. [Magic Bullet / Dischord]
- Kristján Friðbjörn
Digital issued October 22, 2013
3xLP | 2xCD issued October 29, 2013
LP pressing info:
- First Press: White, Grey, Black vinyl
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