Some months ago the Dutch progressive rock band The Aurora Project celebrated their tenth anniversary with an excellent album called Selling The Aggression (2013, see review). The music on this album slightly changed in relation to their previous two albums Unspoken Words (2005) and Shadow Border (2009, see review). Prog metal elements have now been gently incorporated into the music, while the older compositions were more in the neo-prog style. During the release party of their latest CD held at the band's hometown Katwijk, their performance was recorded and filmed for a DVD. Now, a few months after this event the DVD called Selling It Live saw the light of day. This DVD is a great pleasure to watch especially when vocalist Dennis Binnekade declares war to terrorism during Oil Supremacy. This definitely is a moment that gives me goosebumps. At the back of the stage the corresponding images are prominently presented. The shots of the 9/11 attacks and the Iraquian war videos are well-used to emphasize the music. All band members are presented in close-ups. The guitar solos of Remco van den Berg come to life at close range, so you can see how these notes have to be played, that is, if you're interested to learn. The drums of Joris Bol and the keyboards of Marcel Guijt get lots of attention as well, highlighting the songs from different camera positions. Bass player Rob Krijgsman does a great job by creating a steady base for the fluent guitar solos. Second guitarist Marc Vooijs uses the whole stage and he sometimes ends up in front of Dennis Binnekade. Normally this should be no problem, but for a DVD recording it would have been more convenient to pass him from behind. However, let's stop complaining as the entire show is played with a lot of pleasure. The compositions really come to live during the set and the interaction between the musicians is nice to watch. After playing the Selling The Aggression album, it's time for some extras and watching The Confession, it becomes clear what a talented singer and performer Dennis Binnekade is; the emotion he shows during this song is just great. The overall sound of the DVD is flawless and, as I wrote before, the images look terrific and are equally divided between the musicians. The DVD ends with the public's favourite Shadow Border, which contains a great solo that ends the performance. With the release of the studio album Selling The Aggression and the DVD Selling It Live, The Aurora Project strongly returned to the Dutch podia. If you have seen the band perform live, you want the DVD to enjoy this impressive concert again, I think. Watching the DVD will motivate prog heads to go and see The Aurora Project live. Selling It Live is an impressive DVD by an impressive band. ****+ Pedro Bekkers (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
