The final opening act is Lamb of God, one of the more prominent members of the New Wave of American Metal. These guys are heavy, raw, and talented. Their two songs here exude intensity. Their is nothing subtle about them as they rip through "Vile" and "Now You've Got Something to Die For." This is another band, much like Arch Enemy, that I like but have not listened to a lot of. When Lamb of God takes the stage, it would be best if you stepped back before getting hurt, as they are sure to stir up a little bit of the violence. One thing I noticed on the DVD during their set is they are being censored. Randy Blythe's banter is laced with F-bombs which are curiously silent. Considering the audience for this DVD, that is very lame.
Now, the legendary Megadeth takes their place on the stage and closes out this DVD compilation with three songs of pure Megadeth goodness. First up is one of their best cuts from deep in their catalog, "Take No Prisoners." That song is pure 'deth and the performance is enough to get the adrenaline flowing in your veins. The next song moves into more recent memory, The System Has Failed's "The Scorpion." I have to admit that I was not expecting this song, it does not seem to be an obvious choice for a compilation. Never mind, it is a strong song and one that is a little different from the majority of the Megadeth library.
The DVD comes to an end with a cut from their most recent album, one that proves their continued relevance and abilities. The song is "Washington is Next" from United Abominations. This cut gets right to the point, featuring a focused and angry Mustaine who is pulling no punches. It is a powerful way to end the disk. As for their performance? It is excellent, although I would have liked a couple of more songs. Mustaine has a unique stage presence and charisma that does not involve much motion, an interesting experience.
Audio/Video. The disk I received is a promo copy and may not be indicative of the final production, but the tech specs are quite good. The video is anamorphic widescreen, and the quality is quite good. The video is clear and free of any digital issues, it may not be up to par with a Hollywood blockbuster release, but for a concert disk, it is just fine. The audio mix is a strong 2.0 and does a fine job of delivering the live music experience, with a mix that allows all of the bands to shine through.
Article comments
1 - Charlie D
Hey Chris, it's funny how you got the DVD and I got the audio of the Gigantour compilation more than two months before its release (April 22). I'm supposed to get the DVD from my contact as well sometime soon and will probably hold on to both and review them sometime in early-to-mid April.
But what's interesting is that on the audio/CD I have, there are 3 Lamb of God tracks (instead of 2), including their hit "Redneck," and 4 Megadeth tracks (instead of 3), including "Peace Sells," which closes out the CD as an unlisted 15th track.
The other tracks have the same bands in the exact order as the DVD, but except for Lamb of God, all the actual songs are different selections from the DVD. I think that's a good thing. However, I hope the final pressing of the DVD at least has as many songs as the CD version. I mean, how can you not end a Gigantour compilation of any kind without a classic Megadeth song! (And I say this not knowing the track list of the original Gigantour comp) Anyway, very good review.
I guess you'll have to wait some time before you see mine, as I've told my contact I'd wait 'til it's closer to the release date to write it up. All I have to say about the CD version is, so far, so good (pardon the unintentional Megadeth-related pun).
2 - Charlie D
Oh yeah, I forgot to add that the Arch Enemy tracks are the same for both the CD and DVD compilations. And great decision by Overkill (or whoever decides these things) to include "Necroshine" for the DVD. It's great to see those boys (ahem, grown men) are still around.
3 - Chris Beaumont
Hey Charlie! I received both, and the CD review should be up soon. I was wondering what track 15 was, as I could not get it to play, it locked up whatever I used.
I think Washington is Next was a good way to close out, as I think it is a new classic.
BTW, did you know that Overkill has a concert DVD of their own that just came out? I have a review up of that as well. I also have reviews of the first Gigantour up here, (DVD and concert).
4 - Charlie D
No, did not know that about Overkill, so I might have to check that out then since I'm going to my local Newbury Comics to pick up a couple of dvds tomorrow (including Iron Maiden's Live After Death and Godsmack's CD/DVD). Thanks!
5 - Chris Beaumont
Always looking out!
I picked the Maiden disk up, but have not yet watched. I should, though, if only to prepare for seeing them live next month!
The Overkill disk is pretty good, recording is better for the Gigantour disk, but it is still pretty good. It was originally a bonus disk for the German digipak of Immortalis.
6 - Jeremy S
Just a couple things about your review.
You should really know more about the bands if you are going to do a post like this and give your opinion on something.
Into Eternity is not metalcore what so ever and they are also not from Australia like you have mentioned. They are progressive death metal and they are from Saskatchewan, Canada.
7 - wes
hey, who ever did this review made some horrible mistakes when it came to Into Eternity. Australian Metalcore who released a cd with the help of Killswitch Engage?? Are you kidding me?? First of all. They are from Regina Saskatchewn, which is in CANADA! They are far from "Metalcore", they are Progressive Death Metal, and their latest cd "The Scattering of Ashes" has nothing to do with Killswitch. This guy was not talking about Into Eternity, at least he got the band name right and the song name right, but thats it
8 - wes
hey, who ever did this review made some horrible mistakes when it came to Into Eternity. Australian Metalcore who released a cd with the help of Killswitch Engage?? Are you kidding me?? First of all. They are from Regina Saskatchewn, which is in CANADA! They are far from "Metalcore", they are Progressive Death Metal, and their latest cd "The Scattering of Ashes" has nothing to do with Killswitch. This guy was not talking about Into Eternity, at least he got the band name right and the song name right, but thats it
9 - wes
into eternity also didnt release there second cd recently, it was their 4th the released not a while ago (and none of them had anything to do with Adam fron Killswitch)
10 - Chris Beaumont
My apologies for the mistake on Into Eternity. For some reason I got their details crossed with another band, I have sent in requests to have it corrected, but they have not taken effect yet. I still like the album, though!
As for the genre, I stand by the what it sounded like to me. Genre labels suck anyway, they can be twisted any number of ways, generally I hear them different than everyone else and make some up when I feel it necessary.