Dies Natalis fans knew it already: this band is at its best when performing live. So a live release certainly isn’t a bad idea. Spread over two records are 19 songs, recorded at various locations in Europe in the summer of 2003. It contains songs of the previous releases of the band, as well as three unreleased pieces. Limited to 500 copies, this double album will make a lot of fans happy. The cover looks nice, but what I miss is a booklet with concert photos and information about where the songs were recorded.
The folksongs of Dies Natalis are rather simple and direct, but they have a good ear for melodies and they play with a lot of passion. Their music has really gained an extra dimension with the use of nice female vocals. Side one of the first record contains three romantic pieces of their latest album “Tristan”, as well as the old song ‘Ein Wanderer also am Ende seiner Reise…’ in an intimate version. Side two features two absolute classics, the dramatic ‘We Stand’ and the uptempo ‘Rain’, from the first Dies Natalis 10″ single. Really excellent is the version of ‘Time goes on’, with lovely strings.
The second record starts with the new track ‘The seventh seal’, a melancholic poppy song. Another new song is ‘Gnade’, an intimate acoustic ballad. The power level is drastically raised with the enegertic ‘Angels of Babylon’. A highlight on the last side of this live album is another new song, ‘Gestern’. Poetic and melodic, reminding me somewhat of Forseti. Also very nice is the romantic classic ‘deine hand zu halten’.
A pleasant record, which will be appreciated by Dies Natalis. The band proves here again that they are solid live performers. I found the album surprisingly tranquil and intimate, with mainly slow acoustic songs. Personally I wouldn’t have mind some more songs of their first album ‘Vom Gedanken un der Erinnerung’. But the band has clearly changed since then, so it’s logical that they concentrate on their newer work.