(Sanctuary)

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Upon receiving this DVD, I was grinning from ear to ear with anticipation to witness one of heavy metal’s greatest bands. As the disc loaded, I found myself turning up the volume on the stereo to achieve a window-rattling effect that would piss off the dead. As the disc ran, a funny yet home-hitting message scrolls up the screen to describe the effects of music pirating and how it relates to them coming into your house and helping themselves to your fridge. I personally would enjoy Rob Caggiano, Charlie Benante, John Bush, Joey Vera and the mighty Scott Ian raiding my kitchen and drinking a few beers.

Okay, by this time I am hysterical and sweating like a pedophile at a school conference. This subsided pretty quickly once Charlie Benante started with his kick drum on the opening song “What Doesn’t Die.” The playing was out of this world but the problem was the sound mix. I blamed my stereo as the culprit at first, but soon found out after adjusting some knobs that the DVD’s sound mix was substandard even though it was in 5:1 surround. After wasting the whole opening song trying to achieve the sound that I desired, I gave up on my futile attempt and settled in with an ice cold beer and attempted to enjoy the next few songs which included “Got The Time” and the old school classic “Caught In A Mosh.”

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At this point I am really getting irritated at the way the film footage was edited. Not only did they jump around from camera angle to camera angle on all 18 cameras, but they also put in cheesy graphics in what might be considered an attempt to cover up their own lack of editing skill. It certainly did nothing for me, but make me want to shut it off. I hung in and suffered with more crap from the editor (who shall remain nameless for their own good) and went through the rest of the disc.

I again will stress the performance and stage presence were top notch -- the whole show performed in front of a sold-out Chicago crowd. Proclaiming Chicago the metal capital, John Bush aroused the timid within the crowd and created a flurry of activity and fueled the relentless mosh pit that was growing in size. I overall enjoyed the show, as you will with a stiff drink in hand and a cigarette in your mouth. Get set for an old school metal show as the boys are back and ready to usher in a new era of metal for the masses and show that music IS the weapon of mass destruction.

The track list includes: What Doesn’t Die, Got the Time, Caught In A Mosh, Safe Home, Room For One More, Antisocial, Nobody Knows Anything, Belly Of The Beast, Inside Out, Refuse To Be Denied, 604, I Am The Law, Only, Be All End All, Indians and Bring The Noise. Bonus tracks on the DVD include Fueled and Metal Thrashing Mad.

Stage Presence: * * * *
Film: * *
Sound Mix: * * * 1/2
OVERALL: * * * *