Metal Reviews

Love this from samples I've heard, can anyone reccommend a good album to start with?

Into the Labyrith (1993) is awesome ! (their best imo)

Don't listen to him, he's wrong. Into the Labyrinth had some of the best songs DCD ever wrote, but earlier albums like Serpent's Egg, Spleen and Ideal, and Aion were much, much better.

Go for Spleen and Ideal, I say. Most consistent.

What type of music is this?

Uh... Ambient Synth Neo-Classical? Shit, I have no idea how best to say it.

Their self-titled album—which now includes The Garden Of Arcane Delights EP—is probably the most "different" DCD album out of the lot. It's very 80's goth with some cheesy instrumentation compared to their albums that followed. It's very, very good, but it's not the best album to be introduced to the band with. The EP is generally similar in that style, but you can hear the "awakening" of what the band would become.

As for which to choose, anything besides the self-titled is as good as you'll get for an answer from any of us! No two albums sound the same. Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry always took some sort of world music style and interpreted it DCD style, therefore no album is really the same. You could try Toward The Within, it's a live album, so you'll get a good vibe from it and get to hear songs from multiple albums, plus it's got "I Am Stretched On Your Grave" and "Rakim," two of DCDs baddest tunes that can only be found here!!

Or you could go for the collection album, A Passage In Time or the recently-released limited Box Set, or the easier-to-find Wake collection CD. Personally I would suggest you pick up one of their albums and not a collection CD, simply for the consistency between tracks. A collection CD does this band no justice, really. Their albums should be heard as whole pieces of art.

They're truly an amazing group. Lisa and Brendan usually sing and perform all instruments, which is mind-boggling considering the amount of instrumenation used and the range different instruments used like the yang ch'in. What the fuck is that? Hahaha.

Spirit Chaser is my personal favorite, but each and every DCD album is stunning! If you end up liking DCD, you should definitely check out Lisa's solo/collaboration albums and her soundtrack work, plus Brendan's one solo album, Eye Of The Hunter. All are amazing.

And it's generally acceptable to like DCD amongst metal fans! Hahahaha. And though they broke up at one point, the did get back together recently! Schweeeeeeeet!

Hahaha! Not even close! And don't expect me to describe their style either, I think we'd all fail at that! If DCD could be categorized by style I'm willing to bet it would have the longest name ever!!

Well, yeah. Like I said, no idea. Just too many elements. It would end up sounding stupid.

Anyone like Lisa and Brendan's solo stuff??

to my knowledge, he did only one album... since I like his voice I found it pretty good but I missed the world music approach... :( still a solid effort worth checking for those in search of quiet & sad music...

btw, Aaron, i stand by "Labyrinth" as DCD's best album because it sums pretty much everything's up and contains some of the duet's best songs... therefore, it's a good introduction to DCD too !

See, I skip three songs on Labyrinth: Yulunga, The Carnival Is Over, and Ariadne. On Spleen and Ideal, I skip nothing.

I stand by my choice, Spleen and Ideal rules all DcD albums.

Yep, Eye Of The Hunter. It was short, too. I really like it, though. I just wish he was a little more prolific with his work like Lisa has been. Her solo albums, the collaboration albums, all the soundtrack work, she's got a new solo album coming out soon. She got down, yo!

Gerrard, Lisa - The Mirror Pool
Gerrard, Lisa - Whale Rider (Sndtrk)
Gerrard, Lisa (w/Hans Zimmer) - Gladiator (Sndtrk)
Gerrard, Lisa (w/Patrick Cassidy) - Immortal Memory
Gerrard, Lisa (w/Pieter Bourke) - Ali (Sndtrk 1)
Gerrard, Lisa (w/Pieter Bourke) - Ali (Sndtrk 2)
Gerrard, Lisa (w/Pieter Bourke) - Duality
Gerrard, Lisa (w/Pieter Bourke) - The Insider (Sndtrk)

That's what I have from her and that's nothing compared to what she's done! She's got shit on the Tears Of The Sun soundtrack, the Heat soundtrack, a bunch of indie soundtracks, it sucks trying to hunt this shit down!!

Spiritchaser. Hands down (or up if you're black)!

WTF, those are my favorite songs on the album!

Anyway, I'm seeing them live on Thursday 8)

Picked up Spleen And Ideal today (only one I could find under £15!!! :shock: ), so we'll see how that goes....

DCD = god.

They just released a new best of collection, not sure why, though, since one exists already. Anyway, you should enjoy it. They kick ass.

Lisa Gerrard just put out a new collaboration CD:



This is one of her most unique collaborations yet, she seemlessly adapts to the musical style of the Indian (i.e. Native American) culture. It's an excellent release!

I always prefer getting full albums than Best-Of's. I'll keep an eye out for that American Indian album, looks good.


Just for general advice, are there any albums that should be avoided? I hope they haven't made a St Anger......

They're all at least good. No SAs there.

Correct. I would be wary of the Dead Can Dance/Garden of the Arcane Delights (EP) release. It's not bad by any means, but it's definitely different. It's got a big 80's, electronic goth vibe to it. It's their first two releases, so it's not as epic, I guess. Still great, though.

The rest of DCDs catalog is great. The 1981–1998 Box Set is also good, which has a lot or rare songs on it, plus a great DVD included. They also released a CD called Wake, which is basically a lot of selections from the hard-to-find box set. Then they have just released Memento, which is basically your standard Best Of CD, no rare material at all, so it's rather pointless if you intend on buying their catalog.

I'd also strongly suggest the following by Lisa Gerrard:

The Mirror Pool
Duality (w/Pieter Bourke)
Whale Rider (Score Soundtrack)
Immortal Memory (w/Patrick Cassidy)
Gladiator (Soundtrack I and II w/Hans Zimmer)
A Thousand Roads (w/Jeff Rona)
The 13th Warrior (w/Graeme Revell) *this is hard to find*

She also has songs on numerous soundtracks and whatnot:

Mission Impossible 2 (Soundtrack)
The Insider (Soundtrack w/Pieter Bourke)
Ali (Soundtrack I and II)
Heat (Soundtrack)
Tears Of The Sun (Soundtrack)

There are more, as well. Then there are some other international soundtracks and compilations, too, but too many to list. Also check out Brendan Perry's solo album:

The Eye Of The Hunter