MEISTERWERK I

"Meisterwerk I" features a combination of album tracks, rare demo/single/limited edition bonus track recordings, and the video for "The Cry of Mankind" from "The Angel and the Dark River (1995)". If you already own the studio albums, tracks like "The Crown of Sympathy", "A Kiss to Remember", "For You", and "Sear Me III", may seem a bit redundant and it´s probably the rare recordings that´ll be of most interest. The versions of "Symphonaire Infernus et Spera Empyrium" and "The Grief of Age" from the "Towards the Sinister (1990)" demo, "Grace Unhearing (Portishell Mix)" which was a bonus track on the limited edition of "Like Gods of the Sun (1996)", and "Unreleased Bitterness", which is a rehearsal version of the track "The Bitterness and the Bereavement", originally released on a single, which was limited to 1.150 copies. Those four tracks and maybe the video for "The Cry of Mankind", are the attractions here.

So while there is nothing wrong with the quality of the material, you still have to ask yourself, if you´re willing to purchase this compilation if you already own the studio albums. You´ll be paying for four tracks and a video, and quality wise those four tracks are the weakest of the tracks on "Meisterwerk I". Overall I find "Meisterwerk I" to be a bit of a confusing release and the idea to combine regular studio tracks with rare recordings doesn´t work too well. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives)