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‘The
mother of all shred fests’, Revolver Magazine called this. Yes, I have
to agree with that. The level of musicianship on this double CD from
Dave Mustaine’s travelling circus is very, very high, and the guitars
are indeed the focal point. This does, however, not change the fact that
the bands included are quite different and that you might not be
particularly fond of one or two of these. I, for one, have always
thought the CD openers Dream Theater a tad too contrived musically.
I’m not saying that they are not good musicians, I’m just not there.
And isn’t that exactly the point of a live CD – that it has to make
you feel that you missed out on something?
Anthrax,
on the other hand, I always thought of as stalwarts of heavy music (even
though I might not agree with the all too commercial decision of
bringing Belladonna back when you have a much more able singer on your
hands), and Caught in a Mosh and I Am the Law always hit it home with me.
Life
of Agony have decided to included two new songs, The Day He Died and
Love To Let You Down, two of the better tracks off the for the most part
disappointing ‘Broken Valley’. By the sound of it, LOA sound as if
they are there to tear it up, especially with Love To Let You Down, and
for an old fan, this is great to hear.
Dry
Kill Logic are one of the young American bands that I missed out on
entirely, and the two tracks included here don’t exactly make me feel
that I have to regret that, albeit they sound solid and energetic.
Bobaflex
sound a trifle more interesting with their slightly schizophrenic style,
but it’s still hard to get into a band on the basis of a live
recording.
Disc
two opens with Master Mustaine himself. The convincing renderings of
She-Wolf, A Tout Le Monde and Kick the Chair really do make you regret
that you weren’t there, thus creating the first real highlight of the
compilation. Mustaine sounds fuelled and better at voice than ever,
something that raises the bar for a Megadeth performance considerably.
Just
like Life Of Agony, Fear Factory have chosen to let us hear two of their
newer, post-Dino songs. Transgression and Archetype are not
‘Demanufacture’/’Obsolute’ quality, but they are both decent
Fear Factory tracks and are delivered in a time before Burton Bell’s
voice started to cave in. I could see myself jump up and down in front
of the stage there as well.
Nevermore
becomes another highlight of this release with the über-tracks Born and
Enemies of Reality. That band is just a powerhouse of modern thrash
metal.
To
finish off, we get Symphony X, another band I’ve never been able to
agree with. Again, you cannot accuse them of bad musicianship, their
high-pitched prog-thrash just ain’t my bitch.
I
only feel I missed out on four of the shows we get snippets from on this
double CD, and I find it hard to justify a buy (of the CD or the DVD),
although I like the idea of different styles of heavy music on one
release. As a whole I find the concept original and fine, but when it
comes down to the bands included, it’s just too difficult to make
everyone happy.
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