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Ci tengo a presentarvi questo live album, registrato nella notte del 5 Dicembre 1998 allo storico Whiskey A Gò-Gò di Los Angeles, con lo scopo di dirigervi verso orizzonti death metal.
Eseguito durante il "The Sound of Perseverance Tour", il disco è stato pubblicato il 17 settembre 2001 per sostenere le spese dell'operazione che Schuldiner, al tempo nel pieno della mortale malattia, avrebbe dovuto effettuare per l'ennesima volta, cercando di arginare il tumore.
La produzione è sufficiente, ma si capisce subito che si tratta indubbiamente di un bootleg, messo in commercio dalla Nuclear Blast con l'intenzione di farlo passare per un album live. Operazione non riuscita, ma che viene giustificata dai buoni propositi nel tentativo di salvare Chuck da una fine ingiusta e ignobile.
Il frontman della band, considerato a sommi pareri come il più grande songwriter del genere mai esistito, non è impeccabile come al solito, ma continua a sfoderare la sua infinita abilità con la chitarra e la sua maestosa voce infernale, accompagnata sempre da growl e urla allucinanti. La sua chitarra insieme a quella di Shannon Hamm, risulta nel sound complessivo sottotono, non per sue colpe, ma a causa delle registrazioni non ottimali. Gli fa compagnia il basso di Scott Clendenin, percependolo in maniera mediocre.
Alla batteria è presente Richard Christy, un nome una garanzia. Infatti il drummer non sbaglia un colpo, facendo assumere ai pezzi eseguiti violenza e grande precisione. Il paragone, molto più che positivo, tra la sua prova dal vivo e tra i lavori realizzati in studio, non è affatto un eresia.
È inutile ripetere che il disco pecca un po' nel grezzo suono, ma la mostruosa scaletta del disco vi farà impallidire! Il concerto inizia con la contorta "The Philosopher", anticipata da un intro spettrale. Si segue la linea del tour con "Scaravenger of Human Sorrow", da me personalmente ritenuta l'episodio più bello, "Spirit Crusher" e "Flesh And The Powers It Houlds". Andando oltre ci imbattiamo negli altri storici album del gruppo: l'evoluto "Symbolic" ("Zero Tolerance", la paurosa "Empty Words", "Crystal Mountains" e appunto la title-track), l'iniziale "Human" ("Togheter As One" e la micidiale "Suicide Machine") e l'intricato "Individual Thought Patterns" (la canzone d'apertura e "Trapped In A Corner").
Nella catastrofica scaletta troviamo anche le vecchie "Zombie Ritual" e "Pull The Pug". Quest'ultima canzone segna la conclusione di un spettacolo fantastico, reso memorabile dal fatto che sia stato uno degli ultimi del mito Chuck Schuldiner.
Considero il gratificante pubblico, presente in quella indimenticabile sera, molto fortunato e ricco di emozioni.
Quelle emozioni provate nel vedere dal vivo i maggiori rappresentanti del genere: i mai troppo compianti Death.
Elenco tracce e testi
02 Spirit Crusher (06:26)
It comes from the depths
Of a place unknown to the
Keeper of dreams
If it could then it would steal
The sun and the moon from the sky
Beware
Human at sight, Monster at heart
Don't let it inside it could
Tear you right apart
No guilt, It feeds in plain sight
Spirit Crusher
Stay strong and hold on tight
Spirit Crusher
Speaking in killing words
The vicious kind that crush and kill
No mercy, Its pleasure to taste
The blood that it bled
When it's time to feed to fulfill
The need to consume a breath
Some will rise standing tall
Breathing out all the breath from
The voice of a soul
03 Trapped in a Corner (04:25)
I want to watch you drown in your lies
The end of your masquerade, A matter of time
Interwining lies, Domination, control
Feed his twisted nature
It is sickening to see dreams die
A word of advice, Fate's patience is growning short
Fake down to your mind and appearance
You will fall short of the dreams to destroy
In time you will find yourself trapped in a corner
These four words my friend, I promise you will not forget
I am one of many that see through your lies
Hiding will do you no good, many seek revenge
Soon to become a victim of what you live to create, And cannot have
It is sickening to see dreams die
A word of advice, Fate's patience is growning short
Fake down to your mind and appearance
You will fall short of the dreams to destroy
04 Scavenger of Human Sorrow (02:48)
What pain will it take
To satisfy your sick appetite
Go in for the kill
Always in sight-prey
The time always right-feast
Feed on the pain-taste
Sorrow made flesh-sweet
Live how you want
Just don't feed on me
If you doubt what I say
I will make you believe
Shallow are words from those who starve
For a dream not their own to slash and scar
Big words, Small mind
Behind the pain you will find
A scavenger of human sorrow
Scavenger
Abstract theory the weapon of choice
Used by scavenger of human sorrow
Scavenger
So you have traveled far across the sea
To spread yor written brand of misery
06 Crystal Mountain (04:47)
Built from blind faith
Passed down from self-induced fantasy
Turn a page to justify
Conjuring power - It opens wide
On seventh day
Is that how it's done?
Twisting your eyes to perceive
All that you want
To assume from ignorance
Inflicting wounds with your
Cross-turned dagger
Inside crystal mountain
Evil takes its form
Inside crystal mountain
Commandments are reborn
All the traps are set to confine
All who get in the way of the divine
In sight and in mind of the hypocrite
A slave to the curse forever confined
Shatter the myth
Don't cut yourself
On your words against
Dreams made of steel
Stronger any faith
That inflicts pain and fear
Is that how it's done?
Twisting your eyes to perceive
All that you want
To assume from ignorance
Inflicting wounds with your
Cross-Turned dagger
08 Zero Tolerance (05:00)
In the dark of night...
Abusing a portion of light
While others are sleeping
And some are escaping
A serpent spews out fantasy
Unjustified blasphemy
That cannot be condoned
It must be strange to not have lived
So far into existence
This is not a test of power
This is not a game to be lost or won
Let justice be done
There will be zero tolerance
For the creator of hallowed intentions
There will be zero tolerance
Fate is your deciding God
Karma comes crashing down
Leaving a very deep scar
Exposing a door to the
Source of a verbal whore
Machines supply the altar
Where virtuous lives are sacrificed
It must be strange to not have lived
So far into existence
This is not a test of power
This is not a game to be lost or won
Let justice be done
09 Zombie Ritual (04:41)
Revengeful corpse out to kill
Smell the stench, Your guts will spill
Vomit for a mind, Maggots for a cock
With his axe the corpse will chop
Stare into his eyes
Now in his spell
Kiss the rotting flesh
Now you're in hell
Drink from the goblet, The goblet of gore
Taste the zombie's drug, Now you want more
Drifting from the living, Joining with the dead
Zombie dwelling maggots, Now infest your head
Zombie ritual
Zombie ritual
Ceremony now complete
Chosen one is now deceased
Fucking, Raping zombie whores
Killing, Feasting no remorse
Stare into his eyes
Now in his spell
Kiss the rotting flesh
Now you're in hell
Drink from the goblet, The goblet of gore
Taste the zombie's drug, Now you want more
Drifting from the living, Joining with the dead
Zombie dwelling maggots, Now infest your head
Zombie ritual
Zombie ritual
Zombie ritual
Zombie ritual
10 Suicide Machine (04:14)
Controlling their lives
Deciding when and how they will die
A victim of someone else's choice
The ones who suffer have no voice
Manipulating destiny
When it comes to living, No one seems to care
But when it comes to wanting out
Those with power, Will be there
Prolong the pain
How long will it last?
Suicide machine
A request to die with dignity
Is that too much to ask?
Suicide machine
How easy it is to deny the pain
Of someone else's suffering
Robbed of natural abilities
In death they now seek tranquility
In a confused state of mind
Extending agony, They must be blind
Manipulating destiny
When it comes to living, No one seems to care
But when it comes to wanting out
Those with power, Will be there
Prolong the pain
How long will it last?
Suicide machine
A request to die with dignity
Is that too much to ask?
Suicide machine
11 Together as One (04:11)
Labelled a creation of evil
Ridiculed for their shocking appearance
Sharing both please and pain
Two minds, Two hearts, One soul
Separating mentally
An illusion of privacy
Together - They absorb each other's lives
As One - They will live and they will die
A living hell has begun
Displayed as a nightmare
Criticized through words and eyes
As they stare
To the normal it seems grotesque
Connected by a bond of flesh
Two minds, Two hearts, One soul
Separating mentally
An illusion of privacy
Together - They absorb each other's lives
As One - They will live and they will die
A living hell has begun
13 Symbolic (06:16)
I don't mean to dwell
But I can't help myself
When I feel the vibe
And taste a memory
Of a time in life
When years seemed to stand still
I close my eyes
And sink within myself
Relive the gift of precious memories
In need of a fix called innocence
When did it begin?
The change to come was undetectable
The open wounds expose the importance of
Our innocence
A high that can never be bought or sold
Symbolic acts - So vivid
Yet at the same time
Were invisible
Savor what you feel and what you see
Things that may not seem important now
But may be tomorrow
Do you remember when
Things seemed so eternal?
Heroes were so real...
Their magic frozen in time
The only way to learn
Is be aware and hold on tight
I close my eyes
And sink within myself
Relive the gift of precious memories
In need of a fix called innocence
When did it begin?
The change to come was undetectable
The open wounds expose the importance of
Our innocence
A high that can never be bought or sold
14 Pull the Plug (06:22)
Memory's all that's left behind
As I lay and wait to die
Little do they know
That I hear their choice of life
End it now, it is the only way
Too cruel, that is what they say
Release me from this lonely world
There is no hope - Why don't you
Pull the plug
Let me pass away
Pull the plug
Don't want to live this way
Once I had full control of my life
I now behold a machine decides my fate
End it now it's all to late
What has now been days, It seems like years
To stay like this is what I fear
Life ends so fast, So take your chance
And make it last
End it now, It is the only way
Too cruel, That is what they say
Release me from this lonely world
There is no hope - Why don't you
Pull the plug
Let me pass away
Pull the plug
Don't want to live this way
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