WHERE THE DEVILS LIVE

Welcome dreams

Having been around since the turn of the century, Poland's Osada Vida broke through with their 2006 album "Three Seats Behind A Triangle". Since then, there have been two further much acclaimed releases from the band, who have seen their reputation grow steadily but assuredly over the period. Under the wing of Metal Mind Productions, the band performed in the Wyspianski Theater in Katowice, Poland on 10th November 2011, a venue which has seen a succession of superb prog gigs in recent years, many of which have been captured on DVD.

This set offers most of us our first opportunity to see the band performing live. The songs included are taken from the band's three most recent albums ("Three Seats Behind A Triangle", The Body Parts Party" and "Uninvited dreams"). The emphasis is very much of the second and third of those albums, with just one track from "Three seats...". Łukasz Lisiak of the band explains that while they felt that the material on that album was good, the band's performances since then have improved significantly. Consequently, the rendition of "Everyday Ltd." included here is somewhat different to that on the album, including a new improvised section.

We are skipping ahead though, as the album starts with a couple of tracks which will be less familiar, even to fans of the band. The brief "Introduction-Remember your name" was a bonus track on some editions of "The body parts party". It makes for a rousing starter, in the form of an up-beat Floydian style instrumental. "Hard-boiled wonderland" which follows has yet to appear on a studio album, perhaps because it does not appear to fit into any of the concepts which prevailed therein.

From there we are into more familiar territory, with the title track from "Uninvited dreams" being followed by a selection from "The body parts party" and a further three songs from "Uninvited dreams". The band faithfully capture the mood of each song while adapting it for the live environment. Instrumentally, this tends to infuse a new vitality although the vocals of Lukasz Lisiak can suffer through the lack of studio production and effects.

During the introduction to "Is that devil from Spain too", Lisiak reveals the band's fascination with the band Rush (the "R30" badge on his bass is also a clue!) who he implies inspired this instrumental. The aforementioned "Everyday Ltd." is not played in full, but benefits greatly from the improvised section, including some fine lead guitar from Bartek Bereska and keyboards from Rafal Paluszek.

Turning to the technical aspects of the DVD, the product benefits immensely from the experience the production company has built up while filming gigs at the venue. The audio is presented in both stereo and 5.1 surround formats, while the video sees the director exploiting the battery of camera angles available for selection. The main set runs for just under 100 minutes in all. The bonus features include band interviews (in Polish with English language subtitles) plus the usual biography, discography, etc. Also included is a short "Three hours to the show" featurette which can currently be seen on "Youtube".

The sleeve design includes aspects from the covers of the three albums captured by the gig, the result being a striking but tasteful image.

In all, another superb gig at the Wyspianski Theater captured on perfectly DVD.

A few months ago I reviewed the latest studio album by the Polish band, Osada Vida. The album is called Particles (2013) and you can read that review on this link: progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=1039037. Metal Mind (the label of the group) also sent me their latest DVD to review. The DVD is called Where The Devils Live (2012) and even if it's a 2012 release it's interesting to review because it closes a circle for Osada Vida.

The DVD was recorded in a pretty Teatr Śląski im. Stanisława Wypiańskiego in Katowice, Poland, on November 10, 2011. Where The Devils Live (2012) shows Osada Vida still having the bass player Łukasz Lisiak as the lead singer of the band, the fact that would change later when they announced their new singer Marek Majewski for the aforementioned album Particles (2013).

It's interesting to note that after the instrumental intro of 'Remember Your Name' the band gives continuity to the concert with the energetic track 'Hard-Boiled Wonderland', that would only be recorded in their next studio album one year later with Marek on the vocals.

Sonically speaking Osada Vida is just great, especially in the instrumental parts and each musician of the band (Łukasz Lisiak - bass / Rafał Paluszek - keyboards / Bartek Bereska - guitars / Adam Podzimski - drums) shines in their respective instruments. Tracks like 'Uninvited Dreams' and 'Brain' show it very clearly.

Visually Where The Devils Live (2012) is simple but highly professional with great camera moves. The DVD doesn't present any special effects with the exception of a few tracks like the heavier 'Muscle' where we have some slow-motion effects and images that overlap the band playing on stage and on the instrumental track 'Is That Devil From Spain Too!' that after a short presentation shows us once again images that overlap the band on stage. In general, the DVD focuses on the band action and it has a very good photography. The few words spoken by Łukasz are in Polish, but wisely the DVD has legends in English.

All in all, after the ten tracks presented on Where The Devils Live (2012) we have the sensation that Osada Vida is a great live band, despite the vocals being weak (that's exactly why the band got a new lead singer). The DVD shows a band very well-rehearsed in an impeccable recording that includes 2.0 and 5.1 sound in a 16:9 aspect ratio screen. Not just that, Where The Devils Live (2012) would be the last live register with this Osada Vida's line-up, since apart from a new singer the band now also has a new guitar player. Bartek Bereska that recorded this DVD, has no longer played with them since the beginning of this year.

As bonus material on the DVD we have an interview with the founding member of the band Łukasz Lisiak and Rafał Paluszek. In this interview they talk about the story of the band answering questions from an unknown interviewer (as it is common in Metal Mind DVDs interviews). There's also a mini making of from the preparations for the concert that resulted in the DVD. There's also biography, discography, photo gallery and Desktop images.

Resuming, Where The Devils Live (2012) is a great collector item for any fan of the Polish band!

(Originally posted on progshine.net)