Some of you may remember the Swedish Viking/Folk/Black metal band named Magog that formed back in 1997. They released three stunning demos, one single and finally a promo in 2004, where shortly thereafter the bands name was changed to Evangeli. Personally Evangeli/Magog has remained one of my favorite bands since discovering them on mp3.com back in late 2000. Although the band did change their name and occasionally had some line-up shifts, Evangeli/Magog’s sound was a perfect balance of highly melodic Viking/Black metal with strong folk influences. Imagine something like a more blackened metal version of Ensiferum or Windir with violin and more keyboards and you'd be somewhat close to understanding this bands sound. Nevertheless these guys were unique, their own thing, absolutely special and brilliant all the way.
However during their initial run as Magog the band had absolutely no luck at finding a record label and even after changing names they were ignored. For what its worth to you I’ll go on record as saying Evangeli was one the best unsigned bands ever, in any genre as well.
As their first and ultimately their last official release Evangeli offers us this live DVD recorded in early 2006 in Sweden. This release not only came with the DVD but it also contained a CD with the entire concert, plus a nice glossy promo photo was included in this package too.
The bands performance at Arenan, Falun on 2/23/06 contains both three previously released songs as Magog (tracks 1, 3, and 4) and four brand new Evangeli songs (tracks 2, 5, 6, and 7). To say the bands performance on this night was perfect would surely be an understatement as you’d truly have to hear this to understand how amazing it was. The band’s performance as far as I’m concerned is perfect without a flaw to be found.
Considering this is a self produced release you might expect a shitty sound and/or video quality, but it’s quite the opposite with Evangeli. The sound is crisp and completely clear while there are multiple camera visuals to keep things interesting throughout the entire concert. Maybe my only complaint with the filming would be that drummer Elgareth and keyboardist/violinist Eldhrimnir aren’t seen as much. However in the end its the music that matters and Evangeli were kings.
I was always blown away by the way these guys sounded on their demos, but even here in the live setting they are just as dynamic and jaw droppingly astonishing. The older Magog songs sound just as great if not even better as they previously did and the four new songs, especially, ‘A Life's Dedication To Weakness’ are incredible, and really got me excited to hear the next studio recording. But it never happened...
So what happened?
The honest truth is that I don't know. What I do know is that one of the members moved to the United States but the band had every intention of continuing, but then shortly thereafter the band had suddenly collapsed. A shame, mistake, a fucking travesty that such an incredible band as Evangeli was never signed and made into the viking metal gods they truly were.
Really all the songs are incredible and there isn’t a dull moment on this DVD/CD and I honestly believe that listeners that have never heard Evangeli/Magog before will be absolutely stunned by how marvelous there musicianship was. Of course this DVD is long sold out, but as I promised at the birth of this blog I'd occasionally post downloads of rare and hard to find material. So my Lunar Hypnosis readers I absolutely implore you to download and listen to this marvelous band known as Evangeli.
DOWNLOAD HERE: ...in Sin
Evangeli may be gone but music and songs like this stay with you, in your heart and in your stereo, always.
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