Foul is the taste of ignorance. And I admit to having been ignorant to Vital Remains, discarding them as just another American death metal band – and that without even having listened to any of their work, despite the fact that Glenn Benton has paid his dues with the combo.

I have to work on this ignorance in the near future.

Live DVD’s or videos have rarely been the reason for me to pick up a band, but in this case it is going to be different. ‘Evil – Death – Live’ impresses not only with its razor sharp footage from the Polish Metalmania Festival, but also with capturing a live band so technically skilled that it must be counted among the best, brutally sweeping away my initial dread of being  forced to watch a full live DVD with a band that I know nothing of.

The nine songs from the Metalmania Festival are taken from ‘Dechristianized’ and ‘Icons of Evil’ and all represent a brutal take on how groove and guitar melody can be incorporated in death metal. The two guitarists Tom Lazaro and Dave Suzuki impress in equal scores (although the former is strangely absent from the live footage?), and Antonio Donadeo makes a fine posture behind the drums. Damien Boyton is a worthy replacement for Benton, constantly grimacing and throwing fists at the audience as he is. 

The DVD is supplemented with a retrospective interview with Lazaro and Suzuki which shows Lazaro in a much more dominating role than in the live footage. Suzuki hardly ever gets to utter a word and just sits back and enjoys his beer and throws in the occasional nod. Funny that a guy who writes all the lyrics for the band (as well as plays the drums, bass and lead guitars – talk about a multi-talented musician!) has so little to say, though. But nevermind, we get a hint at the thoughts and ideas that lie behind Vital Remains.

Further bonus material on the DVD is Suzuki showing some of his solos from the latest album, six tracks recorded at a smaller venue in Poland. The footage and sound are of course a lot less impressive than the Metalmania recordings, although the quality of the song material is no less stunning.

Not so stunning and frankly superfluous are the low quality images in the minimalistic photo gallery. Biography and discography are nice enough, but not at all necessary. The be all and end all of this DVD is the live recording from Metalmania – and that certainly convinced me that I’ve missed out on something!