It seems live albums are making a comeback. A slew of metal bands are releasing live albums in the coming months, perhaps in response to the ever-rising price of concerts these days. Add Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats to the list of live albums dropping this summer, though their release takes you back in time.
As a youngster getting into music pre-YouTube, live albums took you to concerts. MTV only gave glimpses of Ozzy‘s Speak of the Devil and Iron Maiden’s Live After Death being two of my early favorites. They captured the power of those legendary bands. In at a close third was the Rolling Stones Get Your Ya Yas Out! which was not heavy metal bombast, but one of the progenitors of rock music, in the moment and jamming out blues-based numbers like ‘The Midnight Rambler’. Mick sounds like he is in the moment and having fun. This is closer to the experience captured on Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats’ first live album Slaughter on First Avenue (Rise Above Records).
Unlike my childhood days of listening to live albums that sparked my imagination, due to the fact these artists were still sights unseen when it came to attending their shows, I have actually seen Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats live before. I saw them right before the Covid lockdowns put a stop to touring.
They were opening up for King Diamond. Being an opening band does present its own share of challenging production-wise. More condensed set, not the same backline as the headliner, as well as tailoring the set in such a way that appeals to the headliner’s fan base. Thus Uncle Acid might not want to jam out their guitar solos, and stick to their heavier, harder-rocking songs when playing with the King.
This live album falls closer in line to what I recall from their studio album. The band says “some guy” showed up and asked to record on these two separate nights, and he must have fine-tuned skills in doing so as the vocals on this album come out from behind the rumble of the guitar much clearer than when I saw them. So, in terms of a soundboard recording I am not sure how much love this got outside of mastering, but in terms of sonic balance in the mix of this album is pretty impeccable in that regard.
Slaughter… gives a clearer picture of who they are as a band ranging from the more fuzzed out drug boogie of the proto-doom freak out that is their signature sound to the slower, more melodic jam of ‘Slow Death’ – how they capture their moment, allowing the extended guitar solo to wander off into something that places them on the jam side of desert rockers like The Atomic Bitchwax.
If you are a fan of the band who has yet to catch them live, then this should hold you over until you get that chance. I would even go as far as saying this is a solid entry point to the band if you have yet to listen to them at all, as it provides a comprehensive look into their sonic world.
Buy the album here:
https://www.uncleacidband.com/
7 / 10
WIL CIFER