This is the first DVD from each of these two labels, showcasing videos and "behind the scenes" footage from nine different bands (totaling 11 live performances in all). The effort is a valiant one, and there are some cool bits and pieces here, but for the most part I feel that this project is probably just something that was exciting to put together, as its content is really nothing all that interesting. Now, the actual layout of the DVD is really cool, visually matching the textures and appearance of the printed matter in the DVD case in interactive visual form, and the menus and everything look and work great. I have no complaints there. The problems begin where the video is often generally quite professional, but the audio is always pretty shitty, in very rare cases being what I would consider listenable. In fact, the audio can be so overloaded and muddy with distortion that on occasion you can literally barely make out anything. There are also a lot of crowd shots of goofy karate dancing, and I'm blown away not only by how young most of these crowds are (damn, I feel old), but how rhythmically challenged and ridiculous these kids look while flailing away and trying to throw a kick higher than their waist when their pants are about to fall down. I hate that dancing crap, but I've never seen dancing this bad in my life... I guess the kids in my area are just really fucking good at that stuff. But anyway... as for the bands, On Broken Wings starts off with rather boring, typical dissonant metalcore that does have some great melodic riffs. Until the End drops no frills chugga chugga mosh with some huge singalongs. Bury Your Dead is more chugga chugga mosh. Shattered Realm plays brutal, brutal metalcore with a good dose of the 90's style and tons of old Slayer-esque riffs thrown in... good stuff. Unsung Zeros are the only pop punk/melodic hardcore band in here, and they have by far the greatest number of girls in the crowd... lots of girls, many of them very young. Go figure. Where Fear and Weapons Meet has a hilarious intro, and their brand of heavy old school hardcore seems really energetic in the live setting. This Day Forward has a fucking great intro, but their contribution is by far the worst as both the video and audio are total shit - very annoying. Unearth? Well, this collection wouldn't be complete without an American band dropping melodic Swedish metalcore, would it? Thankfully these guys are tight and write good songs, because they get two videos whereas most bands only get one. And holy shit do these cats have some expensive gear! God damn! Evergreen Terrace closes out with two videos, but all you need is their classic intro, where they've shit in boxes and throw them out into the crowd wrapped as Christmas gifts or something. That shit was funny. All over the package it says that the approximate running time of the DVD is 90 minutes, so I was hoping for lots of interview footage and "behind the scenes" extras, because the intros are far more entertaining than the live performances, and sadly the intros are really short and choppy. But, unless I'm missing something, there's only about 45 minutes of material on the DVD, and I'm pretty sure I didn't miss 45 more minutes of content. I don't know, this is put together well, it's just not put together with the best content. I would've loved this thing if it was nothing but random interview clips and camcorder tour footage shot by the bands, because what brief moments of that kind of thing are included herein are the definite high points. At a whopping $18 a pop I can't really say I'd recommend this.
[Eulogy]
Running time - 45:00 (approximately), Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Until the End, Shattered Realm, Evergreen Terrace]
Eulogy Recordings - http://www.eulogyrecordings.com
