“Wild III is yet a great gift that every Redshift fan must have”
1 Redshift 08 16:44 (Live HJ VII-2008)
2 Shift to Blue 11:51 (Live HJ VII-2008)
3 Schlachthof-fünf 13:22 (Live Eindhoven 2004)
4 Broken World 17:21 (Studio Session 1996)
(DDL 5:18) (V.F.)
(Berlin School)
Here is the 3rd part of the Wild series from Redshift. Like on the first 2 volumes, Mark Shreeve concocts us a fabulous trip back in time with live recordings of the very first Redshift, as well as 2 unreleased tracks: one in concert and the other one in studio. A unique journey because we are mostly in the early years of Redshift. Unique and intense as well with great live performances that let hear all the Moog's rage leading to unique chthonian harmonies.
Recorded live at the Hampshire Jam VII, in November 2008, Redshift 08 is a version of the eponymous track from the very first Redshift album released in 1996. It has the same essence and fusion of monasterial ambient and heavy beats of the original, but with a more airy approach. Fans of Tangerine Dream will be delighted to hear a spectral finale that contains the beautiful Mellotron lines of Mysterious Semblance at the Strand of Nightmares from the Stratosfear album. Shift to Blue is a new version of Blueshift, also on the very first Redshift. A reworked version that suffered from a sequencer problem during this concert. Problem that was corrected from the recording source during the rehearsal where Shreeve did a fade of the two performances giving a superb result without any blur. Beyond this problem inherent to live performances, Shift to Blue is cut by about twenty minutes. The track focuses much more on the rhythmic approach of the big Moog which oscillates between softness and fury on superb melodious synth strata and a divine Mellotron which preserves the essential of the ethereal but not soporific movement of the 1st version. I prefer, by far, this version to Blue Shift that I found rather long on Redshift.
Schlachthof-fünf is the last and missing encore from the 2004 Eindhoven concert that we have on the Toll album. In doing so, we have the complete concert. A splendid track in the pure Redshift tradition that starts with scattered electric piano keys floating in an ethereal cosmos. Limpid, they are wrapped up with spectral breaths and unusual noises which can as well come from the doors of darkness or from the dust left behind by the fallen archangels which fly over purgatory. Waddling like a diabolical rhyme, a sound arch is taking shape from this suspended oblivion. A sequence roars with its heavy reverberations in order to introduce the thundering guitar with steel riffs and James Goddard's howling solos. A superb track that combines the fragility of the spectres with big metallic reverberations under the mechanical cackling of goblins moulded into hardened steel. This is pure Redshift! Heavy and dark where the angelic melodies are buried in an immeasurable sound mess. IMO, it has to be the best track of this WILD III. A corrosive breath opens the first instants of Broken World, an unreleased track composed in 1996. The breath shifts for a dark choir that floats in an in-between world, under a symphonic synth that filters a harmony very close to Mark Shreeve's style on Legion and Assassin. Where psychedelic streaks pierce this long dark intro paving the way for a sequencer movement that hiccups under an austere synth. Broken World does not explode! It follows a harmonious tangent in a dark universe on sequences sometimes heavy and screaming, sometimes docile and peaceful in a harmonious musical paradox. A paradox that bridges the gap between Mark Shreeve's solo works and the early Redshift releases.
WILD III is a yet great gift that every Redshift fan must have. It's also a great way to discover the sound universe of the English band that cuts through the ethereal lengths to exploit the heavy sequences that are the trademark of Shreeve and co. Redshift 08 and Blueshift are two amazing reconstructions of the first works of the band. While this may displease some purists, it will please those who, like me, believe that music should evolve with the times and its equipment at concerts. Mark Shreeve invites the fans of the mythical band to a sound orgy that comes out of the bowels of darkness. One cannot refuse such an invitation!
Sylvain Lupari (December 10th, 2009) *****
Available at Redshift Bandcamp