Review Summary: Suspenseful, droning walls of sound.
For 15 years the only version of this album existed as a bootleg from 2001. The whole story about this performance is that Glenn originally wanted the performance to celebrate the year 2000 celebrations in Paris, and thus wanted to get 2,000 guitarists. After finding out that wasn't possible, he eventually had to downsize to 100 members. If I remember right, the symphony was played in its entirety at 3-4 different locations before Glenn moved on. Someone managed to get a recording of it, and only in 2016 was it released officially.
The facts on the album are a bit fuzzy, so bear with me here.
Glenn’s signature “wall of sound” approach is ever present here, with the guitars rising and falling adding a slight tinge of tension. The first track, March, is the most barebones example of this. Sure, it gets the job done, but mostly I’m waiting for it to be over to get to the other tracks. But the drums carry it a lot in keeping my attention.
Chant is where things start to pick up. The wall of sound feels more full and cohesive than in March. The drumming is also even better. Glenn’s use of tension in this album shines more here, with there being different layers of sound instead of just one. The slight change 17 minutes in leans more into atonal dissonance, which goes pretty well into the next track.
Drive is starkly more dissonant, with the eventual wall of sound kicking in and pulling back the dissonance at around 7 minutes in. It kind of shifts in tone up and down until the drummer helps close it out.
Vengeance’s start is actually pretty slow, with a single guitarist slowly letting the rest of the group join in over the course of two minutes. The drums are a highlight in the intro, with Glenn showing clear restraint for the rest of the guitarists. It’s really nice compared to the rest of the album, it allows the music to breathe. The vibe is kind of uplifting, with it starting to peter out at the 4 minute mark. It really goes from there and the track is kind of worth it. It’s definitely the best track on the album.
The best way to boil it down is suspenseful drone music. But one thing I can’t overlook is the drummer working overtime the entire album. It's pretty easy to miss if you’re not paying attention, since it does get a little lost in the sound. But the drummer does a whole lot for the album.
Overall, pretty good. Has enough interesting moments for an in depth listen, yet not depending too much on your attention. The album does gets better as you listen to it, but that first 20 minutes is a bit of a slog to get through.
Recommended Tracks: Vengeance, Drive, Chant.
