Let's say that you've bought Veni Domine's Material Sanctuary or Schaliach's Sonrise. You put that disc on a 90 minute tape so you can listen to it in your car but you have some extra room on the tape. If you're like me you want to put some similar music in that filler space. Well, let me recommend Lightmare's Vampires E.P.
Like most of the other discs that you can order from RadRockers this one is from outside of the U.S. And like all of the other discs from RR reviewed in this section, it is better than the average.
The disc starts out with a song entitled "Bachtro". Being a German band I just assumed it was a German word. What it turned out to be was a cool guitar rendition of J.S. Bach's (yes, German) "Toccata and Fugue in D minor"--much cooler than Bjorn Stigsens pop keyboard version on XT. The next three songs are original to the band and feature some very interesting stuff. One feature is that the music is not overly heavy, but very classically influenced. The guitarist is an extremely capable individual. They have a keyboardist who adds some really neat effects to the overall gothic sound of the band, like the harpsichord in "Crusader". The vocalist sort of reminds me of the singer for Supertramp, would you believe? And various members of the band sing back up and harmony vocals. Of course the drummer's not bad either. The overall effect brings to mind groups like the Scorpions and Queen and the more ethereal sections of Seventh Angel's Lament For The Weary (listen for the similar thunder crack in "Darkness"). But I feel confident recommending this to fans of Veni Domine.
Lyrically there are some neat concepts. Especially noticeable is the song "Crusader". This song is about a crusader who has come to see the error of his ways. Also noteworthy is the title song, "Vampires". It is not about bloodsucking creatures of the night, but about bloodsucking business people and politicians.
I am personally grateful to RadRockers for locating this kind of music and making it available to us here in the U.S. Let me recommend, gentle reader, that you purchase this one too.
