Review of Various Artists - Monsters of Metal, Vol. 1 - The Ultimate Metal Compilation Double DVD

I'm a DVD virgin. This is actually my first DVD review, so I'm a little unsure as to how to break it down. Reviewing the 50 plus individual tracks contained in this Nuclear Blast compilation is nearly impossible, as each song has differing production values and of course song writing. What I can say though, is NB has put together a solid, well produced and laid out DVD that's worthwhile for most metal fans as it covers all the genres, and while some may skip past a few of the songs, it warrants enough curiosity factor to watch them all at least once. Other wise I would have never have heard Oomph!, the Farmer Boys or Deathstars for the one time I did watch their video. Well lets break this down at least somewhat shall we?

The Good: The usual suspects come through with the "high budget", high gloss efforts commanding larger label status; Dimmu Borgir ("Progenies of the Great Apocalypse"), Cradle of Filth ("Her Ghost in the Fog"), Children of Bodom ("Every Time I Die"), Strapping Young Lad ("Relentless"), Amorphis ("Alone"), Emperor ("The Loss and the Curse of Reverence") and Meshuggah ("Rational Gaze") all deliver videos directly comparable to their success, showcasing the reasons they are as they are. Surprisingly good are some of the power metal offerings, and while their music doesn't normally entertain me, the videos deliver high energy, high showmanship as seen by the undeniably catchy Sonata Arctica track "Wolf and Raven" and the fog machine heavy Circle II Circle and Masterplan; apparently sharing the said fog machine, set and director as well as band members. However, one of the genre's heavy hitters does not live up to expectations, as we will see later. Included on this DVD is the soap opera video duo of In Flames ("Trigger") and Soilwork ("Rejection Role), and while entertaining videos, especially when they can be seen concurrently, only go to show how lackluster both bands' songwriting has become; still they perform and sell. A couple of old school videos rekindle my teen years but also serve to show how bad death metal videos were a few years ago. Carcass ("No love Lost",), Sinister ("Leviathan"), Pungent Stench ("Viva la Muerte") and Benediction's "Down on Whores" complete with horrid lip-syncing serves as pure nostalgia. A pleasant surprise was The Gathering's rendition of "Leaves", showcasing the beautiful voice of Anneke van Giersbergen, even in a midday arena setting.

The Bad: A few questionable videos surface on the DVD, not necessarily bad, but just out of place; a heavy sprinkling of nu-metal litters the DVD. No doubt to lure Hot Topic shoppers to purchase this, offerings from lip gloss heavy Deathstars and Nothingface, the predictable moody Korn-isms of The Farmer Boys and Sevendust to the Rammstein mechanics of Oomph! NB simply either wanted to promote bands that might appeal to the Nu metal crowd or appease their European office. Either way when you've got them rubbing shoulders with Morbid Angel's live rendition of "Immortal Rites", they are way out of their league. Within this category are the few live performances that are spread around; Morbid aren't done justice, Paradise Lost ("Say Just Words"), The Haunted ("Bury Your Dead") Iron Maiden ("Run to The Hills"), suffer from the usual sound issues that come with a live performance that's been recorded. I also have to say there are a few letdowns. First I thought Rhapsody's epic sounds would beg for a high budget epic video to match their music, but "The Power of the Dragonflame" is surprisingly flat, boring and badly made. Plus, the few of the other offerings (Destruction, Kreator, Mnemic, Kataklysm, Hypocrisy) still seem limited to 'bands playing in an empty warehouse' or shots of them goofing off in a studio. C'mon Lacuna Coil, you've got one of the best looking singers in the business and one of the catchiest tunes in Goth rock-couldn't you do better for "Heaven is a Lie"?

The Ugly: As with anything metal there's some truly awful stuff here, and you will be surprised whom the culprits are. Therion have a great song "Summernight City", with one of the worst metal videos I have ever seen. Where did they find so many old people to partake of such a ludicrous escapade? I can only assume there is either a lot of out of work desperate thespians or family members here. Death metal innovators Atrocity, despite the presence of some off-duty strippers, are suddenly a wretched techno metal outfit complete with ridiculous cyber suits. Then Crematory, while I've kinda liked them on CD, just look and sound awful with a video supplanting their over the top keys and off-key growling. Then I think we all remember the gyratingly silly Cathedral video to "Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)" that's only worth watching for the voluptuous background dancer, lesbian scenes, classic movie snippets and blood hocking on the cross finale. OK that's a lot of reasons to watch it, but the band and song aren't any of them.

There's a handful of extras by way of 3 live tracks from Hypocrisy, Kataklysm and Destruction and sound bites from Nuclear Blast's younger bands, whose albums are already out (Misery index, Graveworm, Dew Scented) complete with awful voiceovers and intros.

In short, a worthwhile DVD whose good outweighs the bad, and the bad is entertaining in 70's MST3K sort of way, but with 50+ tracks, most generally OK, you really cant go wrong if you're looking for a compilation featuring some of the scene's better acts.

Be gentle.

Release Details

Various Artists

Monsters of Metal, Vol. 1 - The Ultimate Metal Compilation Double DVD

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