by Eduardo Rivadavia
Listeners who discovered Saint Vitus after the fact will never quite grasp just how thankless and dispiriting an existence they endured throughout what one must cruelly dub their &1980s heyday.& No MTV, no gold records, no chart success, no nothing! Just one overlooked classic American doom album after another, and long, punishing slogs of touring in rackety vans -- SST style -- for the &privilege& of performing in a band and starving for a living. Cult stardom isn't just a colossal oxymoron, kids, it's not very fun, either. Which is why none but the bandmembers themselves, and to a lesser degree, those who &lived& underground heavy metal during the '80s, will probably appreciate the grail-like wonder and importance of this 1990 Vitus Live album. Recorded at Germany's Circus Gammeldorf, on November 10th, 1989, it captures the seminal Wino/Chandler/Adams/Acosta lineup at the height of its power, and mere months away from Wino's departure, thereby marking the end of an era while serving up a near-perfect career highlight reel, fit to challenge even the following year's &official& greatest-hits set, Heavier Than Thou. Retro-themed doom metal standards such as &Living Backwards,& &Born Too Late,& and &Look Behind You& gain additional relevance under these circumstances, and incomparably doleful grinds like &The War Starter,& &Looking Glass,& and &Dying Inside& assume a timeless vitality when upgraded from their at times poorly produced studio versions. The same goes for the oft-covered masterpiece &War Is Our Destiny& and the uncommonly speedy &White Stallions,& which literally surge from out of the speakers in this live setting; and, for the finale, a drawn-out romp through &Clear Windowpane& boasts both drum and guitar solos (the latter humorously including the Batman TV show theme!). Once again, Live stands as an essential from one of heavy metal's most under-represented divisions -- American doom -- and one of its least rewarded champions, Saint Vitus. [Three of these 11 cuts -- &The War Starter,& &Mystic Lady,& and &Clear Windowpane& -- were not available on the original vinyl release.]