Gigantour 2

Rating NR Formats DVD Genre musical Starring Megadeth, Lamb of God, Opeth, Arch Enemy, Over Kill, Into Eternity, Sanctity, The Smashup Directed by n/a Publisher Image Entertainment

Metal the way it should be played!  Brought to you by people who know how to play it!  Can it get any better??  If you’re a metal fan like I am, then probably not.  The Gigantour DVD brings you just that.  It brings veterans like Megadeth and Lamb of God into your living room and also introduces bands like The Smashup to the world.  

The DVD starts out with The Smashup.  Unfortunately, they only put one song from the band on the disc and aside from the opening riff, the song sucked.  That was the first time I heard the band and they were unimpressive.  They didn’t move, there was no crowd participation but again I only heard one 3:30ish minute song to base it off of.  

Sanctity came on next and again, only one song.  Fortunately for them, the song kicked some ass!  There was cool riffage, a memorable melody and hair flying!  This was a band that I watched that felt like they should be on that stage with those bands.   I wish they had more so I could have seen them more.

Next on the bill was Into Eternity.  Their blend of catchy riffage and progressive death metal fit well on this tour.  They go from high screams to deep growls then back to two part harmonies and it works so beautifully.  They had an Iced Earth feel to them, but what do you expect they’re label mates.  Again, only one song on the DVD which was a let down.

I was real excited to see that Over Kill was on this tour.  I’m what you call a HUGE FAN!  All the greats today were influenced by these guys.  They were never really a mainstream act but their underground credibility is what got them to where they are.  They’ve influenced bands like Megadeth and Metallica and vice versa and you can hear that when they perform.  Their performance was nothing less than amazing and on the DVD they played more than one song, unlike those that came before.  They had energy and sounded terrific.  I got goose bumps….

One band that I have never seen live would be Arch Enemy.  Seeing them on this DVD also gave me goose bumps.  They are one of the heaviest bands out today and the reason being isn’t just their sound, it’s their singer.  Angela Gossow has some of the best pipes in the biz and she shows it on this tour.  The energy that comes off of her when she screams is enough to kill someone.  The crowd attention that the band demanded is nothing less than a cult following.  Everything about their performance was nothing less than spectacular!  Find footage of them performing and you’ll see what I mean.

Opeth came on next and I’ll be honest, I never really got down on Opeth….until now.  They weren’t very enthusiastic on stage, which I am very big on, but they sounded great.  Their blend of progressive metal fit well coming up after Arch Enemy.  Mikael Akerfeldt’s vocals are perfect.  He goes from deep growls to clean singing like it’s nothing.  What sucks, and this really does suck, they played just one nine minute song.  I’m still shocked.

Lamb of God!  What is there to say about these guys?  When they perform they are like the bully of a high school picking on the weaker kids.  They demand so much attention when they are on stage.  Watching this DVD all you see are circle pits and hair when they perform.  Awesome live band with TONS of intensity!

You know, when Megadeth performs it’s like being back in the 80’s.  This band has not forgotten their roots.  They have always played fast and played loud.  Dave Mustaine can still shred with the best of’em!  Megadeth still sounds great live and can hold their own with the best’em!  My only beef is that I wish they had put older songs on the DVD instead of off their latest couple of albums.  There is a bonus track though and it’s “Peace Sells” and that song rocks!

The music was good but the DVD itself not so much.  It felt rushed to me.  All the bands had one or two songs and then there was Megadeth who had four.  The bonus features are ok but aren’t enough to save the disc.  When it was all over I felt unsatisfied.  If you’re down for being teased then go get this disc, if you aren’t then don’t waste your money.