The Wish Is Father To The Thought was the debut studio full album by Dutch band Eternal Solstice, originally released in 1994 via Musikfabrik, and very shortly after re-issued via Displeased Records (and for the vinyl-freaks: Dark Descent Records re-released the stuff on LP in 2012). The stuff was recorded at one of the most important studios from the Lowlands, Excess Studio (think: Danse Macabre, Gorefest, Ordo Draconis, Thanatos, Severe Torture a.o.), with Hans Pieters behind the knobs. This is the re-issue, which contains lots of rare pictures, as well as extensive liner notes, in case it might interest you.
What’s of importance? Well, the band was formed at the end of the eighties and split up in 1997, but reformed in 2010 with some of the original members in its ranks once again.
Anyway, this re-release is just a re-issued edition with nothing additional at all. It’s even worse, for this 2013-version does not include the Sodom-cover Outbreak Of Evil. But the material itself was (and still is) very wanted. Consistent and consequent, extremely solid Proto-Death with a nice dose of melody, heaviness and purity. The heavy rhythms go hand in hand with melodic leads, and get coloured by a handful of classical solos, lots of tempo-changes (the speed decelerates more than once into mostly doom-laden force), and a dense, slightly oppressive and eerie atmosphere. Besides the not-addition of anything at all (even though it would be some live or rehearsal demonstration), I also dislike the fact that this remastered version has not been updated with a better sound. All right, I am pro when it comes to roughness in sound and production, but in this case I need to turn up the volume and I can’t stand it; we’re 2013, you see…
But as mentioned before: in case you do have this material, this renewed edition has nothing additional to offer. In case you don’t possess this stuff yet, this might be your chance!