Mankind Suffering Visions

Nocturnal Depression, a band that has been subject of discussion for a very long time. Over the years, the creation of Lokhraed and Herr Suizid has brought us long and deranged pieces of undisputed hate and depression and it seemed that for five years roaming the music scene they were lacking something, and this is when Mankind Suffering Visions shows itself.

With a live performance that lasts no less that 30 minutes and Nocturnal Depression not only compressed five years of musical career but also made a gateway to the future of the band. The set list of the live show was, in my opinion, the best they could have chosen to make a showcase of decadent and sorrowful tunes, the concert delves between the three full-lengths the band had achieved to the moment, making little emphasis in none whatsoever, and even make room for their Demo that certainly hit the mark, Four Seasons to a Depression. The closing sequence of the performance depicts a euphoric audience for the announcement of a new song. This song was Dead Children, a tune that would be fitted into the next album, The Cult of Negation, which proved to be their best to date.

Now, when judging the sonic and visual resources used for these DVD, the most relevant detail to remember it's that is black metal, the quality of the video is, let's face it, poor, of the probably three cameras used during the recording process only one dares to make impressive and different takes, zooming in an out the stage, focusing the members proportionally. On the other hand, we have two other slothful camera men that focused their attention to the sole member in front of their noses and don't even care to get a single shot of the audience.

Next on, the sound. As I mentioned, this is black metal, which roughly means quality cares not, and this motto it's indeed carried out by the people behind the mix, since the sound flows naturally and desperately throughout the show not only because of the sound engineer (if any) but also thanks to the acoustics of the venue.

With all these said what's left to examine are minor details as the cover and layout of the final product (which is just the traditional black and white black metal cover); the response of the audience, which was indifferent by times filled with intervals of excitement; and the extras that the DVD carried, two video clips (the only ones in their arsenal) for Nostalgia and Host and an additional live version of the first, for commercial usage, of course.

So well, what are the flaws? What makes that this album not a perfect one?. Well, I can point only three: the sluggishness of two of three cameramen, the shortening of Sommer (with Nostalgia and Fading Away in the Fog it's perfectly understandable, but not with this one) and of of course the unreasoned separation between songs, I mean, this was practically the only alteration made to the original tape I guess, and it fails terribly, every song it's woefully separated from the previous in a such a despicable fashion that even cuts the applause and interludes between songs.

With all these said what remains to tell is that in the overall this is an successful effort in terms of black metal, no synthesizers, no female vocals, no modern swill, just a monolith of sorrow and despair.