Also, the video shots on the Gigantour 2 DVD captured all the best moments of each band’s performance(s), though at times the shots went back-and-forth from stage to audience or from band member-to-fellow band member a bit too rapidly for my liking. But that’s not a big deal either.

Megadeth, the band who put this tour together, gets the most songs (4) on both discs, to no one’s surprise. Though I’m big on “The Scorpion,” all performances here sound as fluid and heavy as they ever have. The ageless voice of Dave Mustaine leads his mates through the rapid-fire riffs of “Take No Prisoners,” the more recent “Washington Is Next” and the politically charged classic “Peace Sells.” And the audience gladly sang along to the latter, the ultimate highlight of these twin releases.

In all, Gigantour 2 CD and DVD releases give metalheads the world over a sizable sample of some of the best of extreme and thrash metal, though they both could’ve used a few more live cuts. If you attended the tour itself in 2006 then you probably already know a lot about these bands. But for more conventional, say “old school” metalheads like myself, these releases made me better appreciate the talents of newer metal bands like Opeth and Into Eternity (even if they aren’t exactly “new” anymore), as well as the resiliency of the original speed metal groups like Overkill and Megadeth.

Having said all that, the Gigantour 2 CD and DVD kick extreme ass. I recommend you bang your head to both releases. The CD gets , the DVD .

For more information on these releases and the third Gigantour tour (which is now underway), go to the Gigantour homepage.