To Summon The Stars
As Teeth Sink In
The Marching Things
Speak Their Names
Awaken Dommiel
Common Enemy
Tiberious (Full Version)
The Awakening
The Stopping Ground
Put Us In Our Graves
Betrayal
Trail Of Meat

Stumble Upon The Scene
In Succession
Face Of The Kill
Scripted By Force
Random Attack
Our Father
4th Day Stench
Truth/Vomit
A Body Left At The Corrugated Dock
Crushed, Then Removed
Burn Your Pathetic Soul
Baby, It Ain't No Sin
Burning (In The Promised Land)
Random Attack (Brethren Vocal Version)

You won’t have read my last review of the Murderous Vision release "The Waking-State Nightmare" because it got pulled. Decommissioned if you will. The reason was simple enough. Certain people were slightly (putting it mildly) offended by my write up. Which slightly confused me as I never meant for it to offend. I had tried…unsuccessfully…to put a little humour back into reviewing but it blew up spectacularly in my face. The problem is I actually like the music of Murderous Vision…I’ve collected all Stephen Petrus’s releases…but now realise that pseudo avant comedy doesn’t always work. Never has the cultural divide between two great nations seemed so huge. We’ll I’ve ate my humble pie. Made my apologies. Now’s the time to put the record straight once and for all on all things Murderous Vision.

"Ghosts of the Soul long lost" is a celebration of the first ten years in the recording life of Murderous Vision. Instead of taking tracks from all of his releases…for MV is Stephen Petrus…what we have here is a double cd consisting of 26 tracks of rarities taken from various compilations and split releases. MV is an artist who works in the sonic black ambience field. His recordings are brooding and dark and touches on terrors unseen. Using ample samples and heady atmospheres his music has always managed to evoke a certain type of dread and foreboding that only he could elicit. His remit has always been to produce thoughtfully structured sounds to capture the imagination. These 26 tracks typify his work. There are religious overtones and semi-demonic voices at play here. Whilst some of the tracks concentrate on creating all enveloping cold mists of desolation others use appropriate backing tribal beats to beef up the still fright inducing melodies and voices.

And that in a very, very brief nutshell is the sound of MV. As an artist he is generally held, by those who know a good musician when they hear one, as a craftsman whose music has continually evolved marking him out as one of a band of musicians who has put the world of black ambient music firmly on the map. "Ghosts of the Soul long lost" is the perfect introduction to this artist and his dark arts and should be in any self respecting music collectors collection.

NB…the cynics amongst you may well feel that the above piece is a gross ass kissing exercise on my part to make up with Stephen. Well here’s the truth. There was not one word of sarcasm written. Every word was totally meant. I’m mature enough that if the next release by MV turns out to be atrocious it will be written up as that. Honesty and integrity. I can look in the mirror and hold my head high. Can you??

ANM