weasels ripped my flesh: close to the edge thread

 

Well, you say you've got two albums by ITW..., although I assume you mean Strange In Stereo and Omnio, I think you should try HEart of the Ages, unless of course you really can't stomach black metal elements which they removed on the the following releases. The essential ITW is Omnio, Strange In Stereo and HEart of the Ages, so regardless of which two you have, fill in these three first.

 

Then you also have Return To The Isle Of Man, which is a collection of two early demos in addition to two bonus track, one being a primitive version of the debut's title track and the other being Child Of Universal Tongue just under a new name. Two songs off this re-release can be found on the debut in a much better condition anyway, and the other three are either strange black metal or ambient, so get it only if you are like me an obsessive ITW fan and think so highly of them to the extent you'd like to hear everything they've recorded.

 

A different case is Three Times Seven On A Pigrimage, another compilation of unreleased material and those 7"'s they've recorded during their career. It is not an album and thus the songs are not connected, however, the material is incredibly solid. There are 4 new epics done in the vein of the Strange In Stereo album, all of them are great, although Empty Room is a like it-or-hate it track and also the darkest song they've recorded. Depressing track. There are also covers by King Crimson, Jefferson Airplane (this one particularly rocks - it is a darkmetallized White Rabbit) and Syd Barrett and they are done in such a refreshing way that they sound like original ITW compositions. This is a great album for everyone to have, but get it once you've got used to their three studio releases, I suggest.

 

The live album is their last performance and is breathtaking. However, the string orchestra is missing, keyboards, pianos and electronics are not used and instead there are, like, 4 guitarists on stage at once (!) and some songs are done diffrently. The Omnio album is played from the beginning until the end and most of the setlist is based on post-HEart of the Ages material. There are no growls or screams here, whether that is a good thing or not I'll leave to you to decide. Two tracks can be found here, the untitled track is an excellent one done in ITW traditions and is a pleasure to listen to, whereas the other (the "I don't care" I mentioned earlier) is rather boring and irritating. Recommended if you want to see ITW in a live setting and I swear it does sound inspiring and amazingly intense and emotional.

 

Hope that helped, I'll make sure to type up reviews for the ITW albums I haven't yet reviewed (which leaves Three Times Seven... and the live album, I guess). If you need any extra information, you can read up my reviews which I hope are helpful and informative enough and if not, you can always ask me.

 

Yes, that's the right decision, I think, very wise.