(Various shades of extreme metal) Various Artists - Monsters of Metal (DVD)

[Bartender]

Warning – This is a horrendously long review..I include a summary of tracks and my rating to make it slightly easier to bear.
Disc 1
1 – Manowar – Warriors of the World – 4/5
2 – Hammerfall – Hearts on Fire – 4/5
3 – Helloween – Just a Little Sign – 2.5
4 – Anthrax – Safe Home – 4/5
5 – Soilwork – Rejection Role – 3.5/5
6 – Blind Guardian – The Bard’s Song – 5/5
7 – Farmer Boys – Here Comes the Pain – 5/5 and 2/5
8 – Primal Fear – Armageddon – 4/5
9 – Tiamat – Vote for Love – 1/5
10 – In Flames – Trigger – 4.5/5
11 – Stratovarius – Eagelheart – 3/5
12 – Sonata Arctica – Wolf & Raven – 4/5
13 – Morbid Angel – Immortal Rites – 5/5
14 – Paradise Lost – Just Words – 2.5/5
15 – Iron Maiden – Run to the Hills (live) – 6/5
16 – Oomph! – Supernova – 4.5/5
17 – Sevendust – Live Again – 1/5
18 – Cradle of Filth – Her Ghost in the Fog – 3.5/5
19 – Strapping Young Lad – Relentless – 4/5
20 – Sepultura – Bullet the Blue Sky
21 – Darkane – Innocence Gone – 4.5/5
22 – David Shankle Group – Ashes to Ashes – 4/5
23 – Lacuna Coil – Heaven’s a Lie – 4/5
24 – Entombed – I For an Eye – 4.5/5
25 – Circle II Circle – Watching in Silence – 3.5/5
26 – The Haunted – Bury Your Dead – 4.5/5
27 – Emperor – The Loss and Curse of Reverance 3/5
28 – Kataklysm – Shadows and Dust – 5/5
29 – Children of Bodom – Everytime I Die – 5/5
30 – Therion – Summernight City – 3.5/5
31 – Masterplan – Enlighten Me – 2.5/5
32 – Atrocity – Taste of Sin – 2/5
33 – Cathedral – Hopkins (Witchfinder General) – 5/5
Disc 2
1 – Deathstars – Synthetic Generation – 1/5
2 – Meshuggah – Rational Gaze – 3.5/5
3 – Mnemic – Ghost – 4/5
4 – Rhapsody – Power of the Dragonflame – 4/5
5 – Judas Priest – Lost and Found – 2/5
6 – Dimmu Borgir – Puritania – 2/5
7 – Biohazard – Sellout – 4.5/5
8 – The Gathering – Leaves – 1/5
9 – Pungent Stench – Viva la Muerte – 4/5
10 – Danzig – Five Finger Crawl – 3/5
11 – Amorphis – Alone – 3.5/5
12 – Kreator – Violent Revolution – 3.5/5
13 – Thunderstone – Virus – 3.5/5
14 – Carcass – No Love Lost – 4.5/5
15 – Crematory – Tears of Time – 4/5
16 – Bludgeon – Stained in Blood – 2.5/5
17 – Sinister – Leviathan – 4/5
Destruction – The Butcher Strikes Back (live bonus) – 4/5
Hypocrisy – Fire in the Sky (live bonus) – 4/5
Kataklysm – The Awakener (live bonus) – 5/5


This is an apparently newly released compilation DVD by Nuclear Blast (the first of two), which I hadn't heard of until I saw it sitting in HMV's music DVD sale. Its a two disc thing totalling fifty videos, not all of which are by Nuclear Blast bands...which confuses me a little, but then I don't know how record labels work, and I'm getting a pretty good DVD out of this, so I don't worry about it.

A fair few of the bands on this compilation I've either never heard of, or this is my first actual experience listening to them, so please, if I make an ignorant comment about what should be a well known fact, correct me.

The packaging of the DVD is fairly nice; an outer box holding a hardback book type thing, containing the two DVDs and a booklet. The booklet starts with a foreword (and quick round up of bands) by who I am assuming is in charge of Nuclear Blast. The rest of the booklet gives a more in-depth bit about each track (and the band playing it), in both German and English...the English is passable but very pidgin to a native speaker, and spelling mistakes abound, which I loved. The reviews are also far from objective, carefully and fully kissing each band's ***, but it’s to be expected. Anyway, to the tracks..

[Bartender]

Disc 1

1 - Manowar - Warriors of the World
I like Manowar. They seem to have their fair share of shitty songs to balance out the good ones, but when they're good they're awesome. This track is a good old Manowar "we-love-metal" rabble-rouser; a friend of mine hates the video (he thinks its just crap and poorly made) but I think it somehow fits the song. Its not extravagant (except for the singers ridiculous posing), and very low budget, but the slow rocking of guitar and bass players seems to fit.
4/5

2 - Hammerfall - Hearts on Fire
Previous to this DVD, I'd heard of but not actually heard Hammerfall. From what I'd heard, I expected them to be more thrashy that this - they have clean guitars and vocals, but seem to specialise Iron Maiden style power metal (i.e. slower than Sonata Arctica/Stratovarius and friends, but with similar over the top vocals and riff), so I love it. The video is one of the better made on the DVD as well, having the band almost completely surrounded by CGI.
4/5

3 - Helloween - Just a Little Sign
This video looks strangely old (like early 90s SFX). The song is a decent power metal-ish track, but it doesn't seem to be all that great, though whether that is just because of coming after the great first two power metal tracks is uncertain. It feels like Machine Head headlining after you've just seen Slayer play, if you see what I mean.
2.5/5

4 - Anthrax - Safe Home
I rather like Anthrax, and this track is a good enough one. At first few listens it sounds like it is named (that is, safe), but it seems a slight departure for Anthrax (their first love song, I think Scott Ian called it). The video is solid but nothing spectacular, though seeing the fans singing along always looks good to me.
4/5

5 - Soilwork - Rejection Role
I'm not a huge fan of Soilwork, and all the hype around them didn't help, as they inevitably couldn't live up to whatever they'd been built into. That said, this track isn't a disaster, and I like the video so I watch it a bit more than some of the other videos on this DVD (the video featuring In Flames turning up to the gig and writing "Soilwork Sux" on a pillar, and throwing things at the band).
3.5/5

6 - Blind Guardian - The Bard's Song
This has been the real gem of this DVD for me. Blind Guardian were always a band I wanted to check out, but never got around to it. This has finally got my arse into gear and made me order an album of theirs. Although I haven't heard anything else by them, from reviews I would guess this isn't the sort of thing they always play - its acoustic, no drums, and focuses mainly around the vocalists (frankly great) voice (and if this is what they usually play, all the better :D). The video is just the vocalist, bassist and guitarist sitting on stools in a black room, but it works so well for the song.
5/5

7 - Farmer Boys - Here Comes the Pain
Another band I hadn't even heard of, this video is cruel. Cruel because it starts of so very promising but quickly degenerates. The video itself is stylish (it reminds me of the Max Payne story-line scenes), and starts off with flames (announcing the band and song like a film) and a crucified Jesus, complete with crown of thorns and bleeding eyes (though this is what Jesus-as-child-molester would look like) who announces, over a creepy/groovy guitar/bass part "You think you're big time? You're gonna ****ing die, big time. You ready? Here comes--the pain", followed by a kickass guitar riff. After that, unfortunately, the vocals grate and the song in general bores.
First 25 seconds - 5/5
After that - 2/5

8 - Primal Fury - Armageddon
Hadn't heard of them, but this video is a musically sound and vocally cool ("Is this is Armageddon...the who the hell are you?!") track. The video is simply the band playing in a warehouse, which works well enough.
4/5

9 - Tiamat - Vote for Love
I don't know which album this song is from, but the first stuff I heard by Tiamat was from Judas Christ...which unfortunately was very poor. Apparently they used to make good music down the heavier end of the gothic music scale? But this sounds like slightly gothic tinged country. A gothic Garth Brooks. What the hell? The videos not even any good.
1/5

10 - In Flames - Trigger
The first In Flames I heard was from Clayman (which was about the time the vocalist started to profess his liking of Depeche Mode), but I actually liked it. This song is good enough, but it sounds almost more like slightly heavier than average nu-metal (:-/) than the Gothenburg melodic death they became known for. The video is noteworthy because it is shot in the same style and location as the Soilwork video, complete with Soilwork turning up to proclaim In Flames sellouts.
3.5/5

11 - Stratovarius - Eagleheart
I had high hopes for these guys, but I bought Infinite and was mightily disappointed. A couple of good tracks overshadowed by rubbish on the other 6. This song is of the similar quality to the good Infinite tracks, but I just don't trust these guys any more.
3/5

12 - Sonata Arctica - Wolf & Raven
I love the band (sharp, melodic, fast and technically great power metal), and this song is one of their best. The video however is nothing special...its constantly tinged green, and (I know this sounds bitchy and pedantic) when you see the singer, he doesn't look right. He doesn't look like the guy who sings on CD, he just doesn't fit the music. I know that sounds stupid, but it makes a difference for the video.
4/5

13 - Morbid Angel - Immortal Rites
A classic MA track from Altars of Madness. The video isn't conceptual at all, its just the band playing the song live. But thats all it needs, and its just great to actually see Morbid Angel playing so long ago. I like this clip, a lot.
5/5

14 - Paradise Lost - Just Words
I never really liked Paradise Lost, and this track isn't going to change my mind. They might well be a good band if you like the kind of thing they do (I like the singer's voice, but thats pretty much it), but they're not my kind of thing.
2.5/5

15 - Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills (live)
Yes, its the one from Rock in Rio. You can't, literally can't, get any better than a quarter of a million people shouting "Run to the Hills!". This clip is the reason to play this DVD loud.
6/5 (you can't deny them)

16 - Oomph! - Supernova
Never heard of them prior to this, but apparently they're like a lesser known Rammstein, except that they don't sing in their native German. And the lead singer isn't a big muscly bastard, and theres only four of them. The song is a good balance between melody and Rammstein-style industrial stomping, and the video is great; the singer, flanked by his guitarist and bassist, with the drummer behind him, is shot at by a bunch of masked archers. Its just so cool. Odd band name though.
4.5/5

17 - Sevendust - Live Again
A crappy song and a crappy video by a band I can't stand. I’m not even gonna review this properly.
1/5

18 - Cradle of Filth - Her Ghost in the Fog
I'm not the biggest Cradle fan, but in small doses they're alright. I like this video, cos Dani Filth is tiny and hyperactive, and its just really cool to look and see how little he is. The song is one of the ones I like more by CoF as well.
3.5/5

19 - Strapping Young Lad
I love Devin Townsend's projects (most of them anyway), and SYL is no exception. A heavy song, and a close up, to-the-point video.
4/5

20 - Sepultura - Bullet the Blue Sky
So its not Max Cavalera, but its pretty good. A cover of a U2 song, and Sepultura have done a fairly good job on it. The videos nothing amazing, but it works.
3.5/5

21 - Darkane - Innocence Gone
One thing I notice about this song is that the band manage to cram a whole lot of noise into a very dense space, especially compared to a lot of the bands that this video follows in track order. The music is really impressive - it sounds dense and claustrophobic, and I really like it.
4.5/5

22 - David Shankle Group - Ashes to Ashes
Former Manowar member makes his own power metal band - its not Manowar standard, but it has classical and choir like bits in it, and some guitar parts that are a must for lovers of Iron Maiden-esque hackneyed riffing and solos. It would have to be described as a lesser Iron Maiden and Manowar mix, but being inferior to Iron Maiden isn't a huge criticism. Definitely for people who like their metal old (but not in a bad way).
4/5

23 - Lacuna Coil - Heavens a Lie
Not my favourite Lacuna Coil song, but its still really good. The video is of the band recording the song, which I think provides a nice alternative view of an often very stylised group.
4/5

24 - Entombed - I For an Eye
From what I'd heard of Entombed, this track came as a shock to me. I'm not quite sure how to describe this - often it has a rock and roll type groove going on, the overall instrumental aspect tells me thrash/melodic death, but the vocals seem to be very hardcore (both in delivery and lyrical content - very defiant and aggressive). Whatever, its a good track. The video starts off with a very wholesome suburbia feel (a warm, rich colour picture) at a base level tells a story of two kids racing their bike, but its obvious there’s meant to more to it.
4.5/5

25 - Circle II Circle - Watching in Silence
Like a male-fronted Lacuna Coil, CIIC seem to play melodic metal but with less of a guitar edge than the Coil themselves. Piano driven at the start, the vocals are decent (the video is simply the band on a stage), and the guitar often gets a nice rolling riff thing going. It’s a fairly good track, but you might not like it if you're buying this DVD for Carcass, Entombed and friends. It’s probably the least extreme of a supposedly extreme metal compilation, apart from maybe the Judas Priest track.
3.5/5

[Bartender]

26 - The Haunted - Bury Your Dead
Rather good Swedish thrash metal (new thrash, if you like - like a far superior Lamb of God), playing one of the better tracks from the Made Me Do It album (which I was disappointed in compared their debut and One Kill Wonder, though when they were on form on MMDI they were still great), on a small stage to a live crowd. A highlight, for me at least.
4.5/5

27 - Emperor - The Loss and Curse of Reverance
I'm not a great fan of Emperor, or most black metal in general (though occasionally a band like the Meads of Asphodel get it right and I love it), but this song has been growing on me since I bought the DVD (is it one of their more of their more accessible?)
3/5

28 - Kataklysm - Shadows and Dust
A really amazing song, in all aspects - the vocals are spot on, the thrashing guitars are amazing and the drums back them up, and the video starts with a quote I recognise but can't place ("Ultimately, we are all dead men.." etc). Bloody excellent. Update - The quote is from Gladiator.
5/5

29 - Children of Bodom - Everytime I Die
A really spacy sounding track. The initial roar of the vocals starting is amazing. There’s not much to say about it really, its just typically brilliant.
5/5

30 Therion - Summernight City
I don't know anything about this band, but the video is very cinematic, centring around train station. It sounds like fun track rather than a serious one, with nice powerful vocals throughout and a choir like start to the song (note: not comedy-fun, just fun rather than dark and brooding kinda thing, but sorry if theres any die-hards out there disagree with me).
3.5/5

31 - Masterplan - Enlighten Me
Ex-Helloween members make their own power metal outfit..problem is, I'm not that big a Helloween fan, so this lesser version of them isn't particularly appealing, unfortunately.
2.5/5

32 - Atrocity - Taste of Sin
This song seems to show promise at first (kind of like the Farmer Boys, though not on such a great scale), but quickly simply becomes boring.
2/5

33 - Cathedral - Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)
w00t, Cathedral! We get to see Vincent Price ("I am Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder"), along with Lee Dorian dancing around like a maniac, and a fair lady to focus on when you're tired of him. Other than music, I don't know much about Cathedral, so sorry to Cathedral fans if this song is considered a travesty, but I think its damned good fun, and has a huge (huge) guitar rhythm to ride.
5/5

Disc 2

1 - Deathstars - Synthetic Generation
Electronica mixed with heavy music, sometimes works, but in this case I think it doesn't...I'm not sure quite whats wrong with it, it just doesn't sound good at all.
1/5

2 - Meshuggah – Rational Gaze
Ah, Meshuggah. Everyone likes Meshuggah…this is a good, solid song, and the video seems to be something of a showcase for odd camera and editing techniques. Its not my favourite clip, but its pretty good.
3.5/5

3 - Mnemic – Ghost
Despite starting off with what sounds like a very familiar riff, this band (who I have often heard compared to Meshuggah) manage a really enjoyable heavy-technical song. The video starts with simply the band playing in a room, but ends up with the singer appearing on TV screens around the world…which is strange.
4/5

4 - Rhapsody – Power of the Dragonflame
Good, orchestral/operatic sounding power metal from Italy (if you haven’t heard Emerald Sword by them, do so). The track is set in the time of the Emerald Sword story, and is brilliant, but the video is unfortunately tits. Really low quality and not making much sense.
4/5

5 - Judas Priest – Lost and Found
Slow, gentle acoustic song from Judas Priest (the Tim Owens incarnation). Doesn’t do anything for me.
2/5

6 - Dimmu Borgir – Puritania
I always thought Dimmu were a doubtful prospect, and this song isn’t going to change my opinion. The video is in front of a large live audience (at some sort of festival), but even this doesn’t make it much better for me.
2/5

7 - Biohazard – Sellout
Call me a slightly corporate whore if you like, but I really like Biohazard. I got into them due to Uncivilization (the album this song is taken from), and worked backwards through their work. This track is still one of my favourites, good, defiant hardcore style music. The video isn’t amazing, mainly being the band playing in an empty street, or the vocalist jumping around on said street or a beach, but it fits the song.
4.5/5

8 - The Gathering – Leaves
I don’t like this song. I don’t mind unstructured tracks, but this just seems to be too flaky to be enjoyable. I also don’t mind female vocalists (some of them are some of my favourite artists), but the singing of this particular one just annoys me.
1/5

9 - Pungent Stench – Viva la Muerte
This is a strange one. It starts off with a stoner rock/Fu Manchu like guitar riff and a smooth “Ah yeah�..but when the vocals start, they are more akin to thrash and death than the laid back style I expected upon hearing the opening of the song. I’m not sure whether to rate it high or low – I love both groovy guitar and harsh vocals, but the clash of the two is surprising. I think I really like it.
4/5

10 - Danzig – Five Finger Crawl
I don’t know much of Danzig outside of The Misfits, but this track isn’t inspiring me too much. His vocals are actually pretty good, but the rest of the music isn’t great. Its not a terrible track, but there is much better stuff on here.
3/5

11 - Amorphis – Alone
I’ve never heard anything by Amorphis beyond this, despite hearing plenty about them. Based on this track, I’d like to check them out further..its slower and more relaxing than a lot of the rest of the songs on here, but isn’t quiet.
3.5/5

12 - Kreator – Violent Revolution
The video is pretty cool “story� of men in monkey suits, and the music isn’t bad either. Not sure whether people wanna class it as thrash of melodic death or what, but its one of the better Disc 2 moments.
3.5/5

13 – Thunderstone – Virus
Apparently formed at first for fun, this band went professional after nagging from a label to release something. They make power metal of a Stratovarius style (especially the guitars), but the vocals and lyrics appeal to me a whole lot more.
3.5/5

14 – Carcass – No Love Lost
I know a lot of people see Heartwork as the band’s sellout, going for the mainstream record. I don’t know about that (too young), but the album is definitely more polished, more melodic and more accessible than their earlier grind stuff. Although I love the old stuff, I love Heartwork too, and this is a great track from it.
4.5/5

15 – Crematory – Tears of Time
This is one of the slower death metal clips here, and it starts with a choiry/orchestral feel, and features an occasional bit of piano toward the chorus. I really like the vocals, though I don’t know if this is their regular vocal style, as this is the first I’ve heard by them
4/5

16 – Bludgeon – Stained in Blood
Apparently live in Germany, this track starts off well but quickly becomes something that seems far too generic. It is saved from being totally boring by some good stop-start guitar and some pretty cool basswork. The final chorus of Stained in Blood is better than the rest of the song.
2.5/5

17 – Sinister – Leviathan
This sounds really hypocritical after calling the previous video too generic, but I like this one because it seems to have everything a death metal track should have, without actually being too original and creative. As a result, its not groundbreaking, but its damn good. The video’s of You’ve Been Framed (Americans, think Funniest Home Videos) quality though.
4/5

[Bartender]

Bonus Material
Destruction – The Butcher Strikes Back (live)
Clean vocals, live death metal. Clean vocals make a nice change occasionally, and the semi-chant chorus of “The butcher…strikes back!� is great. I don’t usually notice much drumming, but here the drumming is great, and the sound quality in general is excellent.
4/5

Hypocrisy – Fire in the Sky (live)
Despite being a previously unreleased track, the audience really gets into this. Again, the sound quality, particularly this time of the vocals, is great, and the constant “aaaaaah� behind the song (an angelic/choral aaaah, not a dying aaaaah) comes across well. It’s probably my least favourite of the three live bonus tracks, but its still impressive.
4/5

Kataklysm – The Awakener (live)
A live track by my new favourite band (since disc 1). Once again the sound quality is great, but in this case the song quality overshadows it. The guitar has a mini-epic feel to it at the beginning, and the frontman is more of a performer than usual, gesturing to other band members for guitar stings at various points in the song. Also, for the first verse at least, it sounds like the audience sing along? It might be a backup singer, but it sounds cool whichever.
5/5

Dr Blast (show)
I have no idea whether this is an actual show of some sort, or whether it’s made specifically for the DVD. It’s basically a preview of forthcoming Nuclear Blast material (forthcoming at the start of last year, anyway…as, for example, Mnemic’s album has now been released). You don’t get the full songs, just a minute or so of a couple of tracks from each album they (Dr Blast and Nurse Eva, I think they’re called) talk about. I won’t bother actually reviewing the previews, but the bands included are – Dimmu Borgir, Mystic Prophecy, Graveworm, Mnemic, Dew Scented, Misery Index, Re:aktor, Deathstars, Destruction and Primal Fear.

Also included is a photo gallery of most of the bands, which is nothing special, but handily has the names of each band next to it…otherwise it could get confusing.

That’s it, finally..I’m not going to rate the DVD overall, as its practically impossible due to the number and surprising diversity of the bands on here, but overall I’d say it’s definitely worth buying. I think Disc 1 is better than Disc 2, and the bonus material is pretty good. A word of warning though – only buy if you don’t mind stupid and tacky. The box and case are quite ridiculous, and the Dr Blast show is often painfully bad. The actual material is good though, and that’s what counts.

Sorry for inflicting such a long review on you all.

[conspiracy_rocker3]

Very awesome review, it Must have took a while. I must get my hands on this DVD, it sounds amazing.

[Bartender]

Forgot to say, this is Monsters of Metal volume 1.

Which means Nuclear Blast are planning to release another 50 songs on a double DVD at some point. I don't know if its out yet, but I'll be keeping an eye out for it and looking forward to reviewing it if I find it.

[Bartender]

After listening to it a bit more, In Flames - Trigger has really grown on me. I still think it sounds like nu-metal with a rougher edge, but its really bloody good.
New Rating 4.5/5
.

[Raijo]

Wow, this sounds like a pretty awesome dvd, I'll look into it sometime, how much did it cost you?

[Bartender]

£20.99 (GBP)

I think thats about $30 USD

[Raijo]

£20.99 (GBP)

I think thats about $30 USD
Bah I'm Canadian, it'll cost me more than that, ah well. I'll buy it sometimes when I save the money.

[brycey]

you guys have persuaded me to get a copy of this.

great reviews, especially bartender's. :thumb:

[JdawgPhatyo]

you guys have persuaded me to get a copy of this.

great reviews, especially bartender's. :thumb:

I'm pretty sure Bartender is the only one who reviewed it ;) :chug: