The March Violets – The Palace Of Infinite Darkness (Album – Jungle Records)
Genre/Influences: Post-Punk, Dark-Wave.
Format: Digital, 5CD Box.
Background/Info: This massive box brings me back to the golden 80s era of Post-Punk and Dark-Wave music. There was a great scene in Leeds featuring bands like The Sisters Of Mercy, Gang Of Four, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry and many others. The March Violets were still from Leeds and belong to the collective memory of all Post-Punk fans. This box features a first disc with the “Complete Singles 1982-85”, one with “Extended Versions & Eras”, “another with “BBC Recordings 1982-84”, one with “Unreleased Rarities 1982-84” and a last one featuring “Unreleased Rarities 1985-87”.
Content: The music of The March Violets brings us back to this legendary formation. The sound was characterized by guitar, bass guitar and a rhythm box (just like The Sisters Of Mercy). The vocals were mixing male vocals together with female backings. They had a very specific and recognizable sound which was into pure Post-Punk with some extra Rock elements on top. This is an opportunity to (re)discover the band’s most famous hits like “Religious As Hell”, “Walk Into The Sun”, “Lights Go Out”, “Snake Dance”, “Fodder”, “Children On Stun” and much more.
+ + + : This is a great, artistic Box bringing The March Violets alive. They indeed announced new live shows and even new songs for this year. But this is a way to get back to the early years and the way it all started. You maybe don’t know Andrew Eldritch released their official debut single “Religious As Hell”. I like this band for their unique sound and the great complementarity between male- and female vocals. The first disc is the most essential one but the other ones feature interesting passages like live tracks & BBC live recordings for the famous John Peel sessions, alternative- and extended versions.
– – – : On the long run you get the same songs again and again.
Conclusion: This band entered into history quite a long time ago and I’m wondering what they will bring on stage after all these years.
Best songs: “Religious As Hell”, “Walk Into The Sun”, “Lights Go Out”, “Snake Dance”, “Fodder”, “Children On Stun”, “Grooving In Green”.
Rate: 8.
Artist: www.facebook.com/marchvioletsband
Label: www.jungle-records.com / www.facebook.com/JungleRecords
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