ALIVE

"Alive" is a live album from Montibus Communitas. The recording here is not of horrendous quality, but it is not very easy to listen to, particularly since the playing here is rather messy (which is usually not a bad thing for me). The instrumentation is great. As well as the guitars, drums, organ and bass, we have violin, flute, the quena (a south american flute), and a variety of percussion instruments. There is some great improvisation, but at various times throughout the album the music seems to go nowhere.

The live recording is split into five jams. The first is the longest, clocking just over 20 minutes. The first 4 minutes of this jam are just sensational. The sound is lush and fresh, and the band manage to create some really ethereal atmospheres. Unfortunately the music seems to go downhill. There is some nice percussion improvisation, but it doesn't really go anywhere. The jam then continues with some violin improvisation, bringing the album to an atmospheric close. The second jam continues the album on an avant-garde and boring note, with a drum beat that starts plodding and ends franticly and without a strong sense of rhythmic structure. The third track is another messy jam, and this time it is a little painful to the ears. This one is driven by heavily distorted guitar and bass. The fourth jam is in my opinion the best on the album. This track continues the messiness of the previous tracks, only the band use this to create wave-like textures that sweep back and forward. The final jam is not as good as the fourth, but it continues the album in a similar ethereal direction, creating another wonderful atmosphere.

Despite it's major flaws this album is not bad. There are some great atmospheres created here, but I would recommend it only to collectors and fans of Indo-Prog or Psychedelic/Space Rock.

2.5 stars.