Tracklist: “Introduction” * “More than You Can Comprehend” * “Open Wide” * “Horizon” * “Wellspring” * “Bone’s Blues” * “Ashes” * “Secrets of the Universe” * “Das Dunkle Land” * ”In the Darkness” * “The Day” * “Who?” (Bonus acoustic live track recorded at Offenbach Capitol) * “Bone’s Blues” (Bonus acoustic live track recorded at Offenbach Capitol) * “Leaving Eden” (Bonus acoustic live track recorded at Offenbach Capitol) * “Tumsha Nakte” (Bonus acoustic live track recorded at Offenbach Capitol)
About Vic Anselmo:
German/Latvian singer and songwriter Vic Anselmo is born under the sign of achievement. Ever since her 2008 release of her debut album “Trapped in a Dream”, she got quite an impressive number of quotes – newcomer of the month with Orkus and ranked 2nd in Zillo’s soundcheck and 7th with Sonic Seducer. A tour with Deine Lakaien ensued, as well as most of the important festival dates: WGT and Castle Party (2009), Waregem, Elf Fantasy, and Dark Mills (2010). In 2011, she joined Das Ich on stage at Amphi Festval. Vic Anselmo took her nickname from her own name, Victoria, and Pantera’s Phil Anselmo.
About Vic Anselmo – “In My Fragile”:
The album can be thought of as a soundtrack to imaginary nuclear catastrophe movie. Sometimes desperate, sometimes ironic, it reflects a personal collapse through the images of global disaster. Through the entire album we could hear clicks of radiation, air-raids, explosions, and wireless noises. The album artwork completes the whole picture. On the CD cover you can see ruins of Riga, the city Vic comes from. “In My Fragile” contains a cover of Das Ich’s “Das dunkle Land”, as well as four exclusive acoustic bonus tracks recorded live during Vic Anselmo’s most recent tour.
“In My Fragile” is recorded in Latvia, at Fenix studio by Gints Lundbergs and produced by Herman Rigmant and George Kadolchik. Vic Anselmo‘s band includes: Herman Rigmant – guitars, electronic percussions, George Kadolchik – keyboards, Pēteris Pāss – bass, Mārtiņš Miļevskis – drums. Cover art and photo by Arthur Berzinsh. Inside photos by Alexander Trinitatov. Booklet photos by Sandy Worm. (source)
Vic Anselmo – “In My Fragile” – Viva Music Album Review:
Vic Anselmo’s second album came out this weekend on August-19 with Danse Macabre, to whom the artist signed just this spring. The overall composition of the album includes ten original new tracks, one cover, as well as four live renditions of past/new material, all recorded at Offenbach Capitol. Although the album strikes with its dark variety, a point of pride of both Vic Anselmo and her crew should be the fact that most, if not all of the material included in the album is a provocative task carried out while constantly touring. As it happens, the recess of studio did not exist as a prolonged introspection, but as a plausible end result of constant communication to their audience.
The essence of the album is rendered musically in truly eclectic form, but while eclectic has come to mean in too many contexts less than achievement, it is not the case of “In My Fragile”. Eclectic should be read as versatility, diligence, and very accurate renditions of belligerence and becalmed peacefulness, of very stark eroticism and praiseworthy innocence. All these feelings are carried on with a minute attention to musical effect, which makes the whole scaffolding of the album emblematic for a new, fresh and exemplary direction.
After a twitch of an “Introduction”, the war song of “More than You Can Comprehend” takes over. At the same time medieval and contemporary, in a manner that some forty years ago made Kate Bush famous, the staccato eruptions of the song are honey and poison at the same time. In similarly well-wrought material, “Open Wide” combines the eagerness of rock and the teasing of cabaret to sum up a very solid track. “Horizon”, a Viva Music favorite, inclines more on the pensive side, and deliberates on the fullness of sound and beautifully showcases the vocal qualities of Vic Anselmo. Confirming the marriage of introspective and outgoing musicality, “Horizon” is an asset for any playlist and definitely comes with a jingle quality to it. “Wellspring” is quality-wise on the higher end of the album, with its very melodic interface, and it couples really well with the ensuing “Bone’s Blues”, creating a sort of intimate space inside the comfort zone of the album’s pace.
“Ashes” brings to mind a Bjork musicality and a Tori Amos-esque voice, but notwithstanding the comparisons, it stands out as a unique conceptual track, in which the emotions carried on by both instrument and Vic Anselmo’s voice become territorial about creativity and uniqueness, in a statement that honors the entire artistic endeavor of the album. “Secrets of the Universe”, while revealing little about the topic set forth by the title, does a nice play with concealment and revelations, and juggles mightily with innocence and seduction. “Das Dunkle Land”, the Das Ich cover is indeed a masterpiece, and adds savory pleasure to the cadence of the original track. Having witnessed Vic Anselmo on stage with Das Ich at Amphi Festival in mid-July this year, it becomes obvious why she was an inspired choice of vocals for the band bereaved temporarily of Stefan Ackermann.
“In the Darkness” marks the return point to the already recognizable creative streak of Vic Anselmo and phenomenally clusters the erudite sound of the track with a very seductive voice. “The Day”, which ends the new body of the album before the avalanche of live performances, is suave and determined; it is very much like the conflict between mutually intelligible, but also mutually consuming feelings. With a very alert ending, the track opens up to the roar of live performances included on the album. The acoustic live version of “Bone’s Blues” vies with the renditions of the Latvian traditional song “Tumša nakte, zaļa zāle” (“Dark night, green grass”), but also of the track “Who” from her debut album “Trapped in a Dream” and “Leaving Eden”, an Antimatter cover from their homonymous 2007 album.
The richness of vocal texture and the vigorous supplement of instrumental pieces render Vic Anselmo’s “In My Fragile” both difficult and easy to listen to. Its eclectic nature and the numberless comparisons that may come handy to the listener (and reviewer), from Kate Bush to Tori Amos, from Bjork to Evanescence, do not do justice enough to the album or artist; they merely represent pieces of a wider puzzle in which Vic Anselmo needs to be sought after. With the same dedication she put up this incredible new album, that we warmly recommend.
Vic Anselmo – Official Website | on Facebook
Update Feb-27, 2012: Vic Anselmo just shot a video for the song Horizon from the last album “In my fragile…“; filmed by an underground photographer Alexander Trinitatov (www.fotonija.lv) this video is rough and tough appealing to the atmosphere that is brought to us by videos of 90th.
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