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Rating: Can a single, damned 5-song EP be so peculiar for a band that it sets their stylistic path to the point of being considered one of the musical pinnacles of those years? As you may have gathered from my rhetorical question (and the overlapped asterisks), the answer is obviously yes. 1996. In the same year that Venice's La Fenice theater was destroyed by a tragic fire, Juventus won their second Champions League on penalties, and Take That decided 'reluctantly' to quit their Gayband activity on Robbie Williams' birthday, "In Memory" was born, and a part of metal would never be the same.
Without wanting to fall into exaggerated enthusiasm, I've always considered these five songs (perhaps the only exception being the cover medley "Silent Hedges/Double Dare" by the English gothic rockers Bauhaus, still personal and delightful) as essential for anyone who loves a certain way of understanding Power in its most markedly progressive sense. From the first riff of 'Optimist Or Pessimist' the band's clear intent is to make their sound darker and more hypnotic without losing anything in terms of sonic violence, reaching objectively unexpected milestones (at least until then) that would set the bar for a myriad of bands formed in later years. This is clearly apparent in 'Matricide' with its succession of aggressive passages and delicate atmospheres while Warrel Dane assumes the role of an actor with a performance worthy of the best Kirk Douglas in shouting his pain at the absurdities mankind commits against our first mother: the Earth. Despite criticism at the time for their sound being labeled too modern (but it is well known, for some metal is only Manowar and their warriors), these guys developed a certain talent for the perfect fusion of instrumental complexity and catchy songwriting accompanied by lyrics that to call evocative would diminish their value (the magnificent title-track fully embodies what I'm stating).
It's worth noting that at the guitars were the promising Jeff Loomis (clearly for the time, now he is simply one of the most respectable axemen in existence) in great shape and Pat O'Brien (soon to be with Cannibal Corpse), behind the drums a magnificent Van Williams, and on bass the co-founder Jim Sheppard (his touch always unmistakable). I wanted to add a few words for the last song 'The Sorrowed Man': how many bands can afford to conclude a Heavy Metal work in general with a ballad? I believe very few, and this demonstrates even more the greatness of a band that, I want to remind, was semi-unknown on the eve of this EP.
The Nevermore, as you know, in the years to come released masterpieces that are indispensable in the discographies of each one of us. But I would like to encourage anyone reading these lines to make this "In Memory" their own without any hesitation to understand where these geniuses started and, above all, to demonstrate how sometimes 5 songs can be worth more than an entire discography.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Optimist or Pessimist (03:38)
chaos, the rule of the game
spinning as optimist fades
confusion becomed law
eclipsing hope, the pessimist said
if you want to change the world, forget it
the future's not in our hands
if you want to change the world, forget it
the pigs already set in
freedom has bee stripped away
change it the corrosion fades
slowly we turn
as the pessimist sets these pointed words
if you want to change the world, forget it
the future's n ot in our hands
if you want to change the world, forget it
the pigs already set in
the optimist understands why the world's gone down the drain
the pessimist never bends, constricting thoughts in vain
from the pessimist's point of view there's nothing we can do
as I paint this picture gray and taste the pain
I'll play the optimist
The only world I know is the world I cling to
It's a world that I'd want to save
optimist or pessimist, what am I suppose to be
if you want to change the world, forget it
the future's n ot in our hands
if you want to change the world, forget it
the pigs already set in
the optimist understands why the world's gone down the drain
the pessimist never bends, constricting thoughts in vain
from the pessimist's point of view there's nothing we can do
as I paint this picture gray and taste the pain
I'll play the optimist
02 Matricide (05:21)
Hear our Mother crying in silent tears
For she can't speak, she only cries She cries to me
Draw the final curtain, for senseless thoughts
And senseless hands have shaped the future
Is it not what you thought would come?
Or maybe people no longer care for Mother Earth
Earth Mother is screaming, we can't live without her
No time left for dreaming here, she knows Have we forgot our future?
Earth Mother, life giver, we can't live without her
So foolish, men who say they don't care
They'll be gone anyway
Feel our
Mother nurture, for we are the children
Suckling at her breasts she gives us life, she give us all we need
What do we give in return for life we take from her?
Oh, forgive us Mother, forgive us
For we know what we do We've blistered and burned you
Our kind may soon be through, we've raped you Earth Mother is screaming,
we can't live without her
No time left for dreaming here, she knows
Have we forgot our future?
Earth Mother, life giver, we can't live without her
So foolish, men who say they don't care
They'll be gone anyway Earth Mother is screaming,
we can't live without her No time left for dreaming here, she knows
Have we forgot our future?
Earth Mother, life giver, we can't live without her
So foolish, men who say they don't care
They'll be gone anyway
Think of our little ones,
for whom the world has just begun....
05 The Sorrowed Man (05:24)
Take me away to the quiet place
Where the doors of perception open wide
Smiling faces greet me there
Loved and lost, lost inside
Take me away to the netherworld
Where we dance in the waves, the universe shines
The place that holds my beautiful dream
When I awake, I look to the sky and
Pray that I will live forever
The sorrow man will not be me
Today I'll change my life forever
For what I've seen must surely be
Fly me away on the wings of a dove
To the temple of knowledge we can fly
Smiling inside, peace so clear
One with the all, one within mind
Fly me away to a better world
Where there's no more war and can be no shame
The place that holds the great mystery
When I awake, I look to the sky and
Pray that I will live forever
The sorrow man will not be me
Today I'll change my life forever
For what I've seen must surely be
Here I am, body and soul
Flesh and blood, on this stage I play my role
No, there's no time left for gazing at the sky
No, there's no time left, kiss the wind goodbye and
Pray that I will live forever
The sorrow man will not be me
Today I'll change my life forever
For what I've seen must surely be
In the eyes of the sorrowed man...
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