My Dying Bride - _For Darkest Eyes DVD_
(Peaceville, 2002)
Anathema - _A Vision of a Dying Embrace DVD_
(Peaceville, 2002)
by: Pedro Azevedo (9.5 / 9 out of 10)
These are re-releases of the original VHS tapes that originally came
out in 1997. The My Dying Bride DVD features a few extra features,
whilst the Anathema contains nothing new. As a result of this and the
fact that the original MDB video already contained more material than
the Anathema, the MDB DVD has more than twice the total length of the
Anathema. Anathema's _A Vision of a Dying Embrace_ features four
promotional videos ("Sweet Tears", "Mine Is Yours to Drown In", "The
Silent Enigma" and "Hope"), whilst My Dying Bride's _For Darkest
Eyes_ contains six of them ("Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium",
"The Thrash of Naked Limbs", "The Songless Bird", "I Am the Bloody
Earth", "The Cry of Mankind" and "For You"). It goes without saying
that the older videos are rather more amateurish than the more recent
ones, but their presence is nonetheless well justified. The main
section of both DVDs is comprised of each band's respective live
performance in Krakow, in March 1996, a show that was professionally
recorded in terms of video and audio. The camera work is very good,
and on DVD you get a great audio experience as well. (For some
reason, however, the MDB DVD comes with Dolby Surround 5.1, whilst
the Anathema is just Dolby Stereo 2.0.) My Dying Bride were
headliners on that gig, hence you get to hear more of them than
Anathema. The Anathema track listing included a selection of tracks
from their classic _The Silent Enigma_, plus a couple from the
_Pentecost III_ EP and a re-working of "Sleepless" from their equally
classic debut _Serenades_. My Dying Bride's set was based on _The
Angel and the Dark River_ and _Turn Loose the Swans_, an era which
many believe to have been their finest. This means you get to see
Martin Powell on violin and keyboard playing live with MDB, as well
as original drummer Rick Myah and guitarist Calvin Robertshaw. Both
of their live performances are excellent, although one does need to
keep in mind that both bands were a lot younger back then. Having
seen them live since, I can appreciate that but it doesn't hamper my
enjoyment of these DVDs. This is also partly because both bands were
captured at a very good stage in their careers, although one might
argue that Anathema were still going through a transition with Darren
White leaving the band. In fact, had this been a longer gig following
_Eternity_ -- featuring the songs off _The Silent Enigma_ that we can
find here plus a good selection from _Eternity_ -- it would have been
the equal of My Dying Bride's set. The My Dying Bride DVD also
include a relatively lo-fi 1993 gig in Holland and a 1992 performance
of "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium", as well as the band's
1995 Dynamo appearance and a photo gallery. Overall, these are two
superb DVDs for the music they contain, although flawed in the sense
that the Anathema is rather brief and both could have had more
enticing extras. As a result, it may be a rather frustrating purchase
for those who paid for the VHS editions a few years ago. But the
quality and commodity of DVD is far superior to that of VHS, and the
contents are well worth it.
(article published 3/7/2002)
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