Band:	Redemption
Album:	Live From The Pit
Style:	Progressive metal
Release date:	September 16, 2014
Guest review by:	andreosokin

Disc I [CD]
01. Intro/Threads
02. The Suffocating Silence
03. Dreams From The Pit
04. Parker's Eyes
05. Fall On You
06. Noonday Devil
07. Nocturnal
08. Stronger Than Death
09. The Origins Of Ruin
10. Black And White World
11. The Death Of Faith And Reason
12. Walls

Disc II [DVD]
01. Intro/Threads
02. The Suffocating Silence
03. Dreams From The Pit
04. Parker's Eyes
05. Fall On You
06. Noonday Devil
07. Nocturnal
08. Stronger Than Death
09. The Origins Of Ruin
10. Black And White World
11. The Death Of Faith And Reason
12. Walls

Redemption drew my attention back in 2007 when I learned that Ray Alder, the singer of Fates Warning, had become a permanent member, and I really enjoyed their then-latest album, The Fullness Of Time. While their next attempt, The Origins Of Ruin, wasn't so appealing to me, despite my anticipation, their next album, Snowfall On Judgment Day, was really, really good. But then again, they failed to impress me by their follow-up, This Mortal Coil, which shares the majority of tracks with their latest live album, called Live From The Pit.

Before listening to this album, I knew that Ray Alder had some problems with live singing back in the day (remember Dream Theater's official bootleg, Los Angeles, California 5/18/98?), I couldn't even imagine how horrible does this band sound live. Each and every song is a complex prog piece, but requires enough skill, practice and rehearsals to play it live. It really feels like the drummer is trying very very hard to play 99,9% of notes he played on their studio albums, which ruins his rhythmic base and the rest of the band either don't have the click track to follow or they're just unable to keep up with the drummer. That sounds so awkward. And it's also ironic that Ray Alder, whom I doubted the most, sounds better than everyone. Yes, they may have re-recorded the vocals (common practice), but who cares these days?

I mean, in this strange era of modern music industry, you have to be original, you have to impress, if you wish to release a live album. Well, they certainly left a bad impression this time, and I am so sorry about it, because... man, I used to love those guys back in the day!

The mixing is also quite... average. It's not bad, but not impressive either. During the listening, I often felt like it was some soundboard mixdown instead of a carefully produced live album.

And seriously, I can't even give a total rating to this release. I just hope they won't make this mistake again and heartily wish them nothing but the best!