Note:Nondescript.
Review Kikemaiden.
Translation Andrea Mollá.
Before starting to talk about Rebellion’s new work in live, I would like to clarify some axes that could be of interest for a better understanding of reviews or, partly, the majority that are written.
– The first point deals with objectivity when writing a review, article, or chronicle. A subject that we have already touched on in our podcast—where you can listen to this point in more detail and at greater length. It is so hard to evaluate objectively something that can be partly manipulated by us, no matter if you are an amateur or a professional. When it comes to approaching, in this case, a review, we are influenced and affected by so many things that it is impossible to be totally impartial when assessing a band’s work: Personal tastes, moods and even feeling more or less sympathy for a band can make the rating scale fall on one side or the other. If not, how many times have we seen completely different ratings in metal magazines or websites for the same album? That’s why at first it was somewhat complicated for me to give a mark in the reviews. Now, in part, the creator of the text is free to give a mark on our website.
-The second point is about live albums or DVDs today. Until a couple of decades ago, live works were something magical. They took us to a night or several nights where, for most people, it was impossible to get to. Not everyone had the opportunity to see the bands of our lives perform live. Live records, DVDs or videos were the only way for us to be as close as possible to those magical moments. That’s why many of them are considered some of the best albums of all time. Live after death by Maiden, Made in Japan by Purple, Alive by Kiss, Strangers in the night by UFO or Alive in Athens by Iced Earth… so many of them have been key to the later success of the band. However, something that you have at your fingertips practically everyday thanks to technological evolution and the creation of social networks or digital and streaming platforms, and even the facilities that exist to travel and get tickets anywhere all over the world, what sense does it make nowadays? It is difficult to answer this question, but much of the magic and meaning of live performances is no longer there for these reasons.
On this point of the directs I could add an annex or even create a third point, but what I will do is leave it here and expand it throughout the review.
Once this has been explained, let’s put it into context. May 2022, the German band REBELLION embarks for the first time on a tour across the Iberian Peninsula. The cities chosen are not the usual ones. Small capitals welcomed them, and the occasional small festival. But the few fans they have in these areas can’t help but freak out because since 2003 and, more specifically, since the mythical Metal Mania in Villarrobledo, they hadn’t returned.
REBELLION is a band born from the minds of Uwe Lullis and Tomi Göttlich after the former’s departure, in a bad way and already explained many times, from Grave Digger. Göttlich was his partner for a short period of time. They had moments when they could have been more than that, but the scene’s saturation and the technological evolution make REBELLION one of those bands that have been caught in the transition of the musical business change. Later, changes in the line-up, including the loss of their creator, Uwe Lullis, who is currently in Accept, made the expectations become more about self-enjoyment rather than craving for success. Their time has passed. Still… they continue, for all our sakes.
REBELLION’s arrival in these parts comes at a time when, with a rejuvenated line-up, they come to present their brand-new album «We are the people». A work that brings us back to a band more in the vein of their Viking trilogy than of their later works. They are denser and more powerful compositions, but at the same time less accessible and more than convincing to the fans. Here you’ll find the review we wrote back in the day.
With this background, REBELLION’s visit to the Iberian Peninsula was a relative success in terms of how their live shows went. A clear demonstration of their power, typical for a German band.
And this «X – Live in Iberia» is the result of one of those nights. Curiously enough, this server was there on the night of May 15th at the sadly disappeared Sala Paberse, a club in Sedavi (Valencia). How we miss it. A concert that we brought to this site and that you can also read about here.
And if a live album has to reflect the reality of what a band really is in front of their fans, this is an exemplary album. As they say, it is a bootleg with very good sound quality. They sounded like this, with only some pre-recorded vocal accompaniment in the background, the use of keyboards in «Arise», the occasional intro. The rest, pure, hard, and raw live, with its flaws and virtues. Martin Giezma’s and Fabrizio Constantino’s guitars sound perfect, powerful, with a superb blend; Sven Tost’s drums are a blast, including those little rhythm mistakes of the live show, but he is a steamroller; Tommi Göttlich, as always, sober and providing the perfect support for the band; and what can we say about Michael Seifert! He’s an animal, I think it’s a miracle he doesn’t end up completely hoarse after such brutality. He has his moments; most of the time he goes for his deepest and most profound style, but he doesn’t miss the opportunity to rip in some parts of the set. And the sixth member, the audience, is very much present: supporting, reacting, chanting, and carrying the band along. The result is a treat for any REBELLION fan.
It is the faithful, humble, and sincere document of a night with the band. An unretouched photo. The image of the truth. In a world where everything is artificial, where many of the classic live albums have more studio retouching than live fidelity, this comes along. This is not WASP’s Live in the raw, Judas’ Unleashed de east, Guns & Roses’ Live Era or Running wild’s Live.
And this is the third point I mentioned earlier: what to expect from a live album, the reality of that moment or the perfection of a product? One could write about that, and it would be enough for a good article. But I will always stay with the raw, wild, and imperfect Live albums, but which offer truths like fists. Good examples are Slough Feg’s Live in Poland or Blaze Bayley’s Live in France. Two albums that I adore for their honesty and sincerity before any of the aforementioned.
Returning to «X – Live in Iberia», the repertoire is a short review of their great discography, playing a song from each album except «Wyrd bið ful aræd – The History of the Saxons» and, incredibly, also from «Sagas of Iceland – The History of the Vikings – Volume I», which they leave out. They build a large part of the set on their latest release «We are the people», curiously a work with the background concept of the rise of fascism in Europe and a journey through it, from the French Revolution, passing through the wars and conflicts in Europe and seeing how we are experiencing a growth of that Fascism right now.
We start the journey after the intro «Voices of war», with the epic «Liberté, egalité, fraternité» and with «Sweet dreams» from their latest work; a great way to start a memorable night. They didn’t forget classics like the galloping «Sweeden», the tremendous «God of thunder», the mythical «Ala Germanica» from their post-Lullis period or one of their most remembered classics «Born a rebel». Spectacular «Odin», with that chorus sung by Seifert: «Odin I’m!!!! Touching «Kiew» with Göttlich making a speech before the song when only a few weeks earlier Russia had invaded Ukraine. It has one of the best and longest choruses I have ever heard. This song was not supposed to be included in the set, but finally, for the aforementioned reason, they decided to add it. «Vaterland» and «Verdun» complete the tracks of «We are the people», two powerful songs where you can feel the influence of these two young axes on the guitars. «Letters of Blood» takes us back to their debut based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. A hopeful debut and the beginning of REBELLION’s 21-year journey. And they finish with the Grave Digger classic, «Rebellion – The Clans Are Marching» which they made their own on a single released in 2009. A brutal song that ends an unbeatable «X – Live in Iberia».
You can’t give a mark to an album like this, it has a lot to do with personal, intimate, and non-transferable experience. They are an accumulation of sensations that possibly no other listener can feel. It is not the same to listen to these songs having experienced them live than to see them from a colder and more distant point of view.
You could put some downside, of course, such as a longer set list, even to have made a double cd (here the budget is higher for including some more songs and it is not usually profitable for small bands). And I have missed a lot of songs in their repertoire that should be included because they are key in their history like «Miklagard», «Ynglinga Saga (To Odin We Call)», «The prophecy», «Sons of dragonslayer», «Irminsul»… but little more can be said negative about this gift for REBELLION’s fans.
And after this piece of writing, if you don’t know them, I would choose before any of their first five works with Uwe Lullis in the band. If you like them, you will see how you already perceive this «X – Live in Iberia» with different eyes.
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