Leprous
Live at Rockefeller Music Hall

My Norwegian progressive metal heroes Leprous are releasing their first ever live album/DVD, recorded at a show in Oslo. It comes in many formats like DVD and triple LP and double CD, and I can tell you immediately that you should not buy the DVD and I’ll get to why later. It features mainly songs from their latest two albums and most from the last one The Congregation from which eight of the fourteen tracks are taken. There are some tracks from Bilateral too but just a pair. They have a really impressive setlist with excellent hit songs like Down, The Price, The Flood and more greatness. And as I wrote in my latest review of these guys: they are quickly becoming one of my favourite bands, so what can possibly go wrong?

The visuals can go horribly wrong apparently. When I view the video I just want to scream out my frustrations over how insanely bad it is – the visual looks so bad that I just want to vomit after I have received an epileptic seizure from the insanely bad and quick cutting, the poor colours and poorly focused as well as shaky camerawork. To be honest, I think I could do better if I were to record this show on my Canon EOS 1Ds Mk II that doesn’t even have a video record possibility. But I could use burst shooting with its four frames a second or whatever it has and cut them to a video and it would probably not look as bad as this. When the video then finally ends in a what is the best camerawork of the thing I wonder if Costin Chioreanu really thinks this looks good, or if the band does – I guess they have to, why else would they release it?

If the video stinks like cat shit I have to say that the audio is the opposite of that. Of course then you have to figure out what the opposite of cat shit is, so what is the opposite of a cat? Or shit? Well if you want to know how good the audio is, you have to figure it out. Some would probably claim that the opposite of cat shit is the new iPhone but that is more like a synonym than an opposite. Lets just leave that discussion there, I have been listening to the audio religiously for several days now and I was ready to give a high rating to this album as it sounds great, almost the same magic as on the album – there are some drawbacks though.

I think the audience could have been better represented because from what little I can make out from the frantic video cutting back and forth the audience seems to enjoy what they do but you only really hear them at the end of the show. And they could make the songs flow into one another better, there are some pauses and long intros that slow down the show and doesn’t really add to the thing. The dual drummers they use one several songs is a nice touch and the band’s performances and the sound is excellent. So as a live audio recording this is really an excellent album and if you like the band I suggest you buy this on vinyl or CD – I probably won’t though as I think the cover looks quite bad and it will not do in my vinyl collection.

The Price and Down are the two greatest songs, it is just sheer and thrilling excellence that sends a tingling sensation down the spine when I hear them. The opening track The Flood is also worth a honourable mention here. This is as long as I don’t need to view the DVD while I hear them because this album really is terrible video and terrific audio, hence the middle rating for the whole package.

HHHHHHH