The Fierce and the Dead - Field Recordings

Recorded on July 24^th last year at the Ramblin’ Man Festival in Maidstone, England, sees The Fierce and the Dead giving their amazement, creativity, and eruptive/volcanic performance in their new live mini-album that the quartet did entitled, Field Recordings on the Bad Elephant Music label. They were on the same bill with Hawkwind, IOEarth, Von Hertzen Brothers, Procol Harum and Whitesnake to name a few as the quartet give audiences with the sounds between the genres of; Post-Rock, Post-Punk, and Electronic Rock at their finest.

The artwork which is done by comic book artist Mark Buckingham (Fables, The Sandman, Miracleman) based on the photo by Kevin Nixon, captures a very sci-fi artistry that Buckingham brought with a sci-fi futuristic feel of The Fierce and the Dead’s performance. For the four-piece, they have come a long way. From performing in clubs to be in a gigantic stage outdoors, it’s a long and winding road for them and they have made it.

The live recordings is very dynamic yet an eruptive release they have done this year. Not to mention they will be performing the first here in the States in May at RosFest at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. For me, with the Fierce and the Dead, that’s like (using sports analogy) winning the Super Bowl for them. And as I’ve mentioned earlier, they have come a long, long, long way.

Listening to the mini live-album, you can close your eyes and imagine yourself being at the Ramblin Man’s Festival and being there by showing your full support and knowing that Matt, Kev, Steve, and Stuart, deliver a volcanic performance. It’s almost as if my arm-hairs went up at 100.  The audience shows approval and applaud after they finish their compositions. Not to mention I think that it might be Matt Stevens’ sense of humor when he speaks, to show the band’s relaxation and having a blast.

There are moments on here which at times have a melody duel between the bass and guitars as the quartet take you on a journey with a mysterious, deep, futuristic ride that will put you on the edge of your seat. Again after listening to this twice now, this is for me…a Holy Shit performance I’ve listened to! While this was a short performance, I wish they could have done more to give the audience another ride to hurtle through the cosmos.