|
 The 1989
“Sinister dawn” EP from German goth group Love Like
Blood is a classic amalgamation of all its '80s goth influences:
Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, and the Cure. The
band's songwriting and textural range would improve over the next five
years or so, but this early work is entirely worthwhile.
 The first full-length CD
“Flags of Revolution” from Love Like Blood carries
on in the vein of its predecessor, the EP Sinister Dawn, and includes
tracks that originally appeared on that disc ("Doomsday," "Swordlily").
Compared to the more lush-sounding later work of the band, this early
stuff sounds somewhat minimalistic; still, it's darkly effective goth
which follows devotedly in the footsteps of archetypal descendants like
(early) Sisters of Mercy and Bauhaus.
Love Like
Blood 's 1991 EP Ecstasy features a new guitarist, Stephen Noschilla,
four new originals, and a cover of the Rolling Stones ' "Angie"
(perhaps a response to the Sisters of Mercy 's recasting of "Gimme
Shelter"). The originals are quintessential goth, which follow genre
guidelines with classical precision. The band's overall sound, which is
a bit skeletal here, would receive a full-fledged facelift from
masterful guitarist Mark Wheeler, who would join the band on its next
album, An Irony of Fate.
 Love Like Blood achieves gothic
greatness on the superb Irony of Fate , thanks in large part to new
guitarist Mark Wheeler , who adds fantastic new layers of texture and
orchestration to the band's sound. Nearly every track on AIOF is a
powerful, beautifully executed gothic masterpiece, featuring the
tightly wound rhythm section of Jochen Schmid and Gunnar Eysel (bass
and drums, respectively), Wheeler's immaculate guitar work, and the
growling vocals of singer Yorck Eysel , whose style borrows equally
from twin goth icons Peter Murphy and Andrew Eldritch . Where earlier
Love Like Blood efforts recall the creepy, skeletal style of early
Sisters of Mercy , IOF is pure, soaring, gothic elegance with the
capacity to be hard-rocking, romantic, and chilling, often all at once.
Irony of Fate reflects a band operating at the peak of its skill, and,
along with the subsequent Odyssee , is Love Like Blood 's best work.
 1994's Odyssee , like its
predecessor An Irony of Fate, again finds Love Like Blood at the apex
of its skill. The band's immaculately executed goth rock is produced
with expert attention to detail, resulting in a richly orchestrated
gothic masterwork. Guitarist Mark Wheeler , who seems to be leading the
band, adorns each song with loads of texture, from muscular hard rock
power chording to pristine, echo-drenched nylon string segments.
Growling singer Yorck Eysel is at his dramatic best, sounding beautiful
and threatening at the same time. From the haunting opener "Feedback"
to the hurtling "Fallacious World," each song is memorable. Along with
An Irony of Fate, Odyssee is absolutely essential goth, and represents
the very best of Love Like Blood .
 With the departure of guitarist
Mark Wheeler , Love Like Blood unfortunately lost the guiding hand that
made its two albums An Irony of Fate and Odyssee such memorable gothic
masterpieces. New guitarist Colin Hughes lacks Wheeler's virtuosic
flair for texture and orchestration, and therefore leads the band to
less-distinguished territory on Exposure .
(Source
www.music.com)
 "Chronology of a Love Affair"
features Love Like Blood playing
covers of classic goth songs that were originally released between 1985
and
2000. To me, it sounds disturbingly like the final death rattle of a
band once
practically hailed as the future of gothic rock.
I remember finally
receiving my vinyl copy of the first Love Like Blood album
in the very beginning of the nineties. "Flags of Revolution" turned
out to be a rather crappy album of Sisters of Mercy rip offs, which
made the
following album even more surprising. "An Irony of Fate" had me and
most of my friends astounded - here was a fresh, exciting goth album
carrying
on the tradition of Fields of the Nephilim. If a band could develop so
much
between albums, there must be great things ahead?
Apparently not so. The
next album was much bleaker, and after band member Mark
Wheeler left the band, things started tumbling downhill. After several
boring
albums, the band conceived the idea of covering important goth songs,
trying
"not to lose the charm of the originals but playing them as if they
were
new Love Like Blood Songs". Why, oh why?
Above all things this
album makes you long to hear the original versions of New
Order's "Decades" and Tiamat's "Whatever That Hurts". I
don't have anything against bands playing covers - again Type O
Negative,
Bauhaus and even Sisters of Mercy have all made great covers - but
please do it
for a reason. Not out
of boredom.
(Source www.releasemagazine.net)
|
