Concert DVD Review - Gigantour - Page 2

Dry Kill Logic, Nevermore, and Fear Factory all put on similarly punishing, thrash metal assaults. Each of these bands relies on the extreme/clean contrasting vocal approach, which shifts between satanic growls and semi-normal singing. Nevermore's Warrel Dane distinguishes himself from the pack with a soaring vocal range that often mimics fellow Seattle native Geoff Tate. These bands are all excellent at what they do, and these performances should not disappoint their fans.

I was looking forward to seeing Symphony X, as I had heard a lot of their music, but have never seen them live. Lead vocalist Russell Allen sang on Arjen Anthony Lucassen's excellent Star One - Live On Earth concert DVD, and I was blown away by his performance. He has one of the more powerful voices in progressive metal, and he really puts it on display here.

Like Dream Theater, Symphony X wisely picked a couple of their heaviest songs, in order to hold their own against much heavier acts like Fear Factory. "Inferno" kicks off their 2002 album, The Odyssey, and features some of Allen's most aggressive vocals. Band founder and resident guitar wizard, Michael Romeo, shows some serious Metallica influences on this song, which nicely compliments his blatant Yngwie Malmsteen inspired guitar technique. They close their set with "Of Sins And Shadows", the brutal opening track from their epic 1997 album, The Divine Wings of Tragedy.

Life Of Agony was one of the more pleasant surprises on the DVD for me. Their 1993 debut album, River Runs Red was a dark and heavy metal opus, which successfully infused just the right amount of the grunge style that so dominated the early 90's. In 1997 lead vocalist Keith Caputo quite the band, and by 1999 LOA had officially broken up. In 2003, the original lineup reunited for some shows and a live album, River Runs Again.

In 2005, they released their first new studio album in eight years, Broken Valley, which provides the two songs on this DVD. Broken Valley is more melodic and accessible than its predecessors, and "Love To Let You Down" and "Day He Died" both feature plenty of memorable hooks. They reminded me a lot of fellow grunge-metal rockers Godsmack. This has many of their longtime fans crying foul, but I thoroughly enjoyed these two powerful performances.

Anybody who has perused my review website before will know that Dream Theater is one of my favorite bands. Still high off their brilliant new Score DVD, the two killer performances on this set were simply the icing on the cake for me. Dream Theater wisely chose two of their heaviest songs for this DVD, and also two songs that were not already featured on Score. This was an added bonus. "The Glass Prison" is the ferocious opening track from their epic, 2002, double album Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence, whose extended instrumental section proves that these guys can hold their own with the heaviest of bands. "Panic Attack" is the most intense track off their excellent new Octavarium album, and sounds more like a leftover from the much heavier Train Of Thought sessions.

Article Author: Paul Roy

Paul Roy is a network administrator by day and amateur music DVD critic by night. When not attending as many live concerts as he possibly can, Paul likes nothing more than to kick back with a good concert DVD and rattle some walls. …

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