Rating: Video - 4 stars (out of 5), Audio - 4 stars (out of
5)
The very prolific team at Metal Mind
Productions has given us yet another concert offering from the
now-infamous Wyspianski Theatre in
Katowice, Poland. This time, it’s the first DVD offering from
the Polish sextet Believe. The band, led by guitarist Mirek Gil
(ex-Collage) has put together a group of solid, if unspectacular
musicians (with perhaps one exception on violin), who all do a
great job, without really delving into virtuosity. The music is
charged by the guitar work of Gil and supplemented by solid
drumming from Vlodi Tafel, working in tandem with bassist
Przemas Zawadzki, and the flourishes of classically-trained
Japanese violinist Satomi Yasutaniya. Believe’s first foray into
the DVD world features a set list of just 10 songs, as the show
was recorded on Nov. 19, 2007, with the band opening for
legendary Polish proggers, SBB.
The video editing consists of the now-standard method of
chopping from scene to scene rather quickly, although here it
isn’t done with quite the speed of some (i.e. Rush in Rio). This
is fairly normal editing by today’s standards and those who have
seen other Metal Mind DVDs by such artists as Pendragon, NEO,
Pallas, Satellite, Caamora, etc., will know what to expect. No
doubt, the quick-cut editing will annoy some, but most will be
able to tolerate it. I thought it was fine.
The music, which is available either in stereo or 5.1 Surround,
was well balanced, and the mix was very clean, with good
instrumental separation. The keys could be higher in the mix at
times, but overall the sound was clear. One thing that did
bother me was the backing vocals. There was no obvious vocal
microphone near any of the performers, aside from lead
vocalist/guitarist Tomek Rozycki, so the backing vox were either
overdubbed, triggered or added in by some other electronic
trickery. This was a bit jarring for me, but these days it seems
that everyone triggers some vocals. Between songs, Rozycki spoke
a little to the crowd in Polish, but there are English
subtitles.
Eight of the 10 songs were culled from Believe’s debut album,
Hope to See Another Day (hence the title of the live DVD), with
one track (“Memories”) coming from their 2008 release, Yesterday
is a Friend, and one track (“Beggar”) coming from Gil’s former
band, which was simply called, Mr. Gil. The songs were played
well, doing the studio versions justice. Most didn’t deviate
much from their studio counterparts, but “Beggar” got a somewhat
of a new treatment and “Don’t Tell Me” started with a
scaled-down acoustic arrangement that gave it a fresh sound,
before it transitioned into a nice electric piano solo by
keyboardist Adam Milosz, followed by a violin solo by Satomi and
a nice solo by Gil that rose in intensity until the song
climaxed and ended. “Coming Down” was extended for band
introductions and short solo spotlights. The concert ended with
the epic title track from Hope to See Another Day.
In terms of performance, Rozycki is a good front man. He’s quite
expressive and emotive, if not animated. Satomi oozes charisma
on her violin. The rest of the band is solid, but unspectacular,
and doesn’t provide much energy, aside from Gil’s solos. The
crowd was appreciative, but subdued – a typical prog crowd – and
the band was not able to feed much off of them, but they still
put forth a quality set.
The DVD also features a nice 20-minute interview with Gil and
Rozycki (again in Polish, but with English subtitles), two bonus
audio tracks from Yesterday is a Friend (“What They Want (Is My
Life)” and “Unfaithful”), a band biography and discography, two
photo galleries, and web links. As for the sound and graphics,
the menus are user friendly and the artwork was well done by
Maciej Srebrzynski.
Overall, I would recommend this DVD to those who like Metal
Mind’s other offerings, and those who enjoy the music of bands
like Collage, Porcupine Tree, Riverside, Satellite, etc.
Track Listing
1) Liar
2) Needles in My Brain
3) What is Love
4) Pain
5) Don't Tell Me
6) Seven Days
7) Memories
8) Beggar
9) Coming Down
10) Hope to See Another Day
(Bonus Audio Tracks)
1) What They Want (Is My Life)
2) Unfaithful
