The live album exercise is a special one. What else can a band offer than a compilation of songs played in front of an audience? A special date, a special venue, an unusual line-up, different instruments can all serve as pretexts... With Visions of Summerland, DOOL adds a hint of romanticism, obviously melancholy and bittersweet: on the darkest day of the year, the dark rock band ended their tour in their home town of Rotterdam, at the Arminius Church. Rest assured: true to form, Raven Van Dorst won't be saying too many words, so no incomprehensible Dutch speeches are to be feared!
Several symbols coexist: DOOL plays "at home" in front of friends and family, there's that long night and the sacred dimension of the venue, of course, but there's also a link between the date and the theme of the Summerland album. Released just before the world went to hell, this marvellous record about the passage from life to death has never really had the live existence it deserved, apart from a few concerts at the end of 2022. In addition to the band's symbolic farewell to this stillborn work, they also bid farewell to their drummer, who had announced his intention to leave the project after the tour. So much for the background to Visions of Summerland, which already gives a very special flavour to the band's image, something poetic, dark but resolutely forward-looking.
Listen to the album will give you the same feeling seeing them live... If, on reading the tracklist, you initially have to mourn the loss of old tracks that you thought were immortal and irreplaceable, you have to admit that the new ones take on a whole new dimension live on stage: the energy the band puts into them lends a rare intensity, and Be Your Gods or God Particle immediately take on epic overtones. We're sad, but we're happy too, that's how life goes. Van Dorst's voice, much deeper and more assertive than in the studio, catches us right in the gut and takes us on an eventful journey, with his charisma spilling out of the speakers.
Dool's blend of gothic, grunge and pop-rock influences is as effective as it is addictive. So we willingly let ourselves be drawn into this whirlwind of emotions... And then something happens. When the track Summerland arrives, on which the band is already planting the seeds of the melody that will later conclude the performance, we're surprised by an unprecedented, hushed finale, at once beautiful, reassuring and sinister, which stretches the original track beyond the ten-minute mark. The live show then takes a turn and enters a skilfully orchestrated crescendo: as we feel the end approaching, the energy intensifies even further. The cathartic heaviness of Love Like Blood, where Killing Joke is superbly reinvented, leads to the unifying power of Oweynagat and its weightless second half, before finally Dust and Shadows imposes its ultimate finale with its twilight romanticism, at once conquering and anguished, nostalgic and looking to the storms to come.
After all, death is part of life, and DOOL manages to convey all the nuances and beauty of this mixture of hope, regret, melancholy, darkness and light. The live format breathes new energy into the tracks, as the band is known for its feverish performances and generosity, and thus communicates the emotions of the songs even more powerfully. It's epic, moving, intimate and universal - in short, it's sublime. Before we see where the band will take us on their third album (where can they take us after inviting us to the great beyond?), Visions of Summerland will remain a testament to an era that deserved much more than a few all-too-rare concerts.
