Love Is Colder Than Death – Time

It's hard to believe that Love Is Colder Than Death have been around as long as they have. Chronicling the years 1990 through 2005; Time is an expanded, updated version of their previous compilation album Auteur. The sleeve is laid out in a gatefold manner and the track listings wisely are divided along the lines of their more electro/classical works from their time on Hyperium Records being concentrated on the first disc and their newer more acoustically classical tracks being on the second disc. Smart move utilizing two tracks from their stunning 1995 maxi single Spellbound to bridge the gap.

Photos abound of the band throughout the years from their first publicity shot right up to a recent look at the band at work on their new album.

For the first half of the 1990s, this band were in the vanguard of the neo-classical movement which came about for a number of reasons, the primary one being to create something new. Remember that everybody? My my, how times have changed. With their blend of sleek electronics and cathedral-esque vocalizations, LICTD were one of the most enigmatic and popular bands of the darkwave scene. Mental Traveller, released in 1992 secured their place in the musical world as a darkly engaging outfit with a luminescence that was timeless.

Oxeia came in 1994 and featured a band in transition, the dance-floor tracks were shoved to the end of the album, with the more inquisitive notions of found sound design coming to the fore. This act vanished between the years 1995-98.

They re-activated with 1999's Atopos which was more classical than ever and was devoid of any upbeat tunes whatsoever, due in large part to two new members joining the band. With the release of 2003's Eclipse, original vocalist Susann Porter re-joined Love Is Colder Than Death and with the aid of the other long-standing member Sven Mertens, it triumphed with world influences and floor politics balanced. A live album, Inside the Bell followed shortly after.

Time comes highly recommended for new fans of the band and for those senior citizens who have always followed them, there are a couple of unreleased treats to hold us over until their new album World in Motion is released later this year. Now where'd I put my cane?

Reviewed 2006