Customer Reviews

Iron Mask

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Yes it's true that this is an extremely raw recording, and it's also true that Rozz himself was very critical of it. (he was clear that it was the production, not the musicianship that he thought as sub-par) I can understand how fans of the slickly produced Catastrophy Ballet and Ashes would have a problem with the stripped down, minimalistic versions of Luxury Of Tears and Cervix Couch, but the version of Sleepwalk on this album blows away the original version recorded by the original Christian Death lineup. I even like it more than the version on Catastrophe Ballet. (which is still good) More crunch. Darker sounding, rather than the bright sound of C.B. This album is really not that bad. In fact it's really good as far as I'm concerned. You have to remember that early Goth was SUPPOSED to be raw sounding. It was punk rock, not arena rock. Just listen to the abrasive and a-tonal Only Theater Of Pain if you don't believe me. This isn't a polished and produced Goth album, this is a raw and dirty Death Rock recording. It's all about the gloom, and this album has pleanty of it. Its murky and muddy sound only improves the blackness of the music itself. And the song Skeleton Kiss (the only new song on the disc) simply rocks. A GREAT deathrock tune that is part Munsters and part Black Sabbath. The only real problem for me is the shortened and less impactful version of Spiritual Cramp. The rest of the album rules. In many cases, minimalism and rawness works well and adds to the atmosphere of a recording. It works VERY well here. I enjoy hearing different versions of my favorite songs. That's one reason I like live albums. This album is definitely worth getting and is worth every penny, if you can find it anywhere. Infinitely more worthy than anything Valor has put out with his greedy self in Rozz's place.

So here's the real story about what happened: Rozz & Eva went into the studio to record "The Iron Mask". They then went on tour as Shadow Project intending to finish production when they returned. Cleopatra had different ideas...they decided to mix the album to sound like a live studio jam session while Rozz & Eva were gone. Rozz & Eva were not amused.

Even so, there are some gems here. These versions of Spiritual Cramp, Figurative Theatre, Desperate Hell and Deathwish are (in my opinion) even better than the original versions from Only Theatre of Pain. On the other hand...The tracks from Catastrophe Ballet (Sleepwalk, Cervix Couch) and Ashes (The Luxury of Tears) sound sloppy and rushed, as if they were demo versions (which was the sound Cleopatra wanted for some odd reason). I have always wondered how these would have turned out if Rozz had been able to have a say in the production. Skeleton Kiss is a fun, grave stompin', somewhat campy track that for some reason reminds me of the Munsters theme. Not a bad thing, although the "Death Mix" is almost identical with a slightly "rawer" production and some out of place sounding samples scattered here and there. And finally Down In The Park. What is there to say? Rozz Williams covering a Gary Numan track live. Even with the somewhat poor production quality it's great!

I think the most disappointing thing about this CD is that it had SUCH potential...and while half of it is rather enjoyable, the other half is barely listenable.

After a successful reunion tour featuring the original members of Christian Death, Cleopatra Records decided to cash in by having Rozz Williams and Eva O go into the studio to re-record a collection of early Christian Death material as well as a new single. After recording, Rozz and Eva left to tour under Shadow Project, their current band at the time, leaving mixing and production in the hands of Cleopatra. After returning from the tour, they found the final CD to be eerily similar to the very rough mixes they had before they left, prompting even Rozz to call this album a mistake.

In essence, this CD is Shadow Project performing Christian Death songs from Only Theatre of Pain, Catastrophe Ballet, and Ashes. These are pale reflections of the originals. The performances are very amateurish, with roughly played bass, sloppy guitar that often seems to wander aimlessly through the songs, often-off-rhythm keyboards, and poor drum timing... This could work for it in a grunge sort of way, but instead the roughly-mixed and performed song versions here are just flat and lifeless carcasses of their former selves, almost sounding more like rough working demos than final songs. All of the atmosphere and edge of the originals has been sucked out. In fact, being a huge fan of those early albums, I find it rather difficult to stomach most of this CD.

Rozz's doubled vocals, which were quite effective on his work with Shadow Project and, to a lesser extent, the Christian Death albums that would come after this also just seem out of place here. Rather than accentuating the lyrical content and mood of the songs, they often just seem grating and only serve to add to the flawed sound of this collection.

The album also contains 2 versions of a new single, "Skeleton Kiss", which is decent but not exactly noteworthy (other than being the first new Rozz track officially released under Christian Death in many years).. The disc is finally topped off with an okay recording of a decent live cover of Gary Numan's "Down In The Park". Again, it's nice but not exactly noteworthy.

The bottom line is that this is, in my opinion (being a huge fan of both early Christian Death and Shadow Project), possibly the worst thing Rozz has ever released. If you're a hardcore Rozz fan, well, you probably already own this or compulsively ordered it before reading my review. If you're a newcomer to the band, do yourself a favor and pick up the brilliant original albums (Only Theatre of Pain, Catastrophe Ballet, and Ashes) and steer clear of this collection of mediocre recordings..

In response to Mr. David L. Smith, please shut up. Everyone, for the last time, Shut up about the Rozz/Valor debate. Chrisian Death was NOT valor's band, and never was. ROZZ WAS CHRISTIAN DEATH. the christian death lineup that included rozz and valor was basically Pompeii 99 with rozz on vocals instead of valor. Rozz wanted the project that released "Catastrophe Ballet", "Ashes", and "The Decompostion Of Violets" to be called Daucus Karota, but valor INSISTED that the name christian death be used. so, technically, all christian death releases after "Only Theatre of Pain" of bogus christian death releases, although anything with Rozz is amazing. stop bitching because you're stuck up Valor's ass and don;t like this album, Rozz is and always was Christian Death, Valor just played guitar for rozz and stole his name. Now, shut up about valor and rozz, its over, it ended when rozz died.

Being that this is a collection of early songs from Christian Death in Rozz's latter band format, this album should go over rather well with Shadow Project fans that followed Rozz back into Christian Death up to "Rage of Angels" and "Path of Sorrows". For even longer term fans this CD is a sad, sad look at Rozz's early music with Valor, Gitane and Rozz's first Christian Death album with Rick Agnew of "Adolescents". By long term fan and quality seeking music lover this album is a poorly produced, 3rd rate purchase. A purchase of "Ashes", "Only Theatre of Pain" and "Catastrophe Ballet" seeing the genuine dynamics of the original versions of these songs would bring about the recovery of its listener from this half effort Rozz himself was not pleased with.

This is the first album I ever bought of Christian Death, and now four years later I have all the albums of Christian Death with Rozz. I can simply say it is a great introduction to Rozz and Christian Death.

This album here contains songs that are remixed in such a way that it will take you to another world. it is a must have. Eva & Rozz rock in this album. Fav. song must be (desperate hell) all the way. Long Live The Beast, Rozz Williams.........

I have listened to a lot of goth songs and didn't like them that well, but this C.D is great for all people, even if you don't like goth. If you do happen to get this C. D I recommend that you listen to the song Desperate hell... I know that I am going to get every C.D made by christian Death, right away. Get the C.D you will love it.

I simply didn't like this release. I feel the production was done badly. I hate the entire "double voice" effect that is used through EVERY song. I do, however, like the guitars a lot, and the live rendition of Gary Numan's "Down In The Park" was especially... lively. Which is a lot to say about a song by a band called Christian Death.

I really really really hated this CD when I got it. I was hoping for new versions of their classic songs that would sound good. Instead I heard new versions of classic songs that made me want to toss my cd walkman out a window. Some people must like this CD. I'm not one of them.