review  by dalia "gryphon_spirit" di giacomo____    

Almost 4 hours- no please don't read automatically: 4 hours are a whole afternoon, or a whole evening (oh yes right, why not a whole morning?)!!- 4 hours that sum up valuable moments of the latest metal/rock years including the newest tops of the family. From Danzig's Five Fingers Crawl and Say just Words by Paradise Lost to Anthrax's Safe Home, man!, we have a burst of multiple genres represented by very indicative tracks, through which we go along again and thinkk back about our latest story. 50 videoclips among the most beautiful, the most interesting, the most important ones, all together in 2 DVD's, expressed in a very articulated sequence that alternates genres , rotates years, proposes bands as a collection without time or, better said, as a monument, cause this work is really majestic, is a kind of metal anthology in video. and even if you are the most pedantic and critic person of this world you cannot avoid to be involved when watching at these sequence of famous videotracks, that have been and/or are important presences. Ultimate clip compilation? well we are really near to the truth here. it is the first volume, this is to say there will be soon another Monsters of Metal compilation during winter 2003/2004, and the 2 volumes together (4 dvd's) will for sure represent a colossal pillar not to be missed. So, this is surely an EVENT, you know, one of those things that are testimony, guide and recapitulation of a passion , of a culture. If you like Metal, no matters which genre, this is a work you really should have. Very brilliant are the details: you will find it as default cased edition, and the typical DVD box contains 2 disks and a nicecoloured complete booklet, that, with a good number of pages presents all the bands with pic, title of the track chosen, official website address, and a short but effective comment in two languages: english and german. Every videotrack follows the other after a short break whose musical background is a passage taken from the beginning of the song Damage Zone (brand new album "Zero Order") by the "revelation" Re:aktor . Obviously , like every good DVD, these ones too allow the possibility of remote control and in particular the option to play all tracks automatically or not, leaving to you the choice of what to see at the moment (to tell the truth, in my disk number 1 the option "play all" doesn't work , but it could be a fault of my player device...while in the second one the remote options work perfectly) Whatever... the collection is and remains potent. And just to put a cherry on the cake there is also a "3 live tracks" chapter (with clips from Destruction, Hypocrisy and Kataklysm), plus an audiochapter where DR Blast , from his sanatorium of madness and craziness, together with his ineffable Evil assistent nurse, present the newest stuff (such as Re:aktor, Destruction, Graveworm, Dew-Scented, Misery Index, Morbid Angel, Deathstars and Dimmu Borgir among others) , + photogallery and credits.
33 clips in the first DVD which starts off with Manowar (Warriors of the World) and closes with the English act Cathedral(Hopkins) , passing through Hammerfall, Helloween, In Flames, Cradle of Filth, Lacuna Coil, ohh the cult Emperor!, Children Of Bodom, ohhh... Paradise Lost(ehm--ehm sigh of emotion) , Entombed, Sepultura, Circle II Circle, The Haunted, Therion, Atrocity, Stratovarius, ah...Kataklysm!! Just for mentioning, cause, is really better to read the whole long list that says pretty much. The second disk entertains us starting off with Deathstars (Synthetric Generation) going on with Meshuggah and Mnemic , closing then the clip gallery with Carcass, Crematory, Bludgeon, Sinister after having proposed nothing less than Dimmu Borgir , Biohazard, Amoprhis, Judas Priest, Kreator, Rhapsody, The Gathering, again just to mention. the live chapter, the dr blast show , the photo gallery are always on the second disk.
In few words,.. do you want Black?, you find it! do you want Power, you find it, do you want Death? you find it; do you prefer atmospheric synthesizer tones, well you find your heroes, Melodic? ok; ... right heavy and merciless stuff? ok again. Gothic?, Crossover?, Modern Rock? ladies and gentlemen, the dinner is ready, you find everything represented. Some among you could reply: " eh mahh no, why didn't they have included these and those? and who tells that this choice of tracks is the most persuasive uh? how many bands are there who dwell at nuclear blast home?" Well i could answer
a) there will be also a second volume so other "monsters" of metal will be taken in consideration to complete the opera magna (just a suggestion: i'd like to see Malevolent Creation), 
b) there are many bands that are not "under" Nuclear Blast,
c) that you are really one of those pedantic ones mentioned before.
Very good in every detail, this Monsters Of Metal will let you enthusiast like i sincerely am. i'm also very content that always more often labels release something worth our money , so thanks to Nuclear Blast. oh before i forget, what do you think about a multimedial party celebrating with a monster sound- and videotrack?

rating:  9.5/10 

DVD 2
1. DEATHSTARS - Synthetic Generation
2. MESHUGGAH - Rational Gaze
3. MNEMIC - Ghost
4. RHAPSODY - Power Of The Dragonflame
5. JUDAS PRIEST - Lost And Found
6. DIMMU BORGIR - Puritana
7. BIOHAZARD - Sellout
8. THE GATHERING - Leaves
9. PUNGENT STENCH - Viva La Muerte
10. DANZIG - Five Finger Crawl
11. AMORPHIS - Alone
12. KREATOR - Violent Revolution
13. THUNDERSTONE - Virus
14. CARCASS - No Love Lost
15. CREMATORY - Tears Of Time
16. BLUDGEON - Stained In Blood
17. SINISTER - Leviathan

Special Bonus Material:

1. LIVE CHAPTER
Destruction H The Butcher Strikes Back
Hypocrisy H Fire In The Sky
Kataklysm H The Awakener

2. AUDIO CHAPTER "DR. BLAST SHOW"
(PCM Stereo)
Dr. Blast presents new stuff from:
MYSTIC PROPHECY
GRAVEWORM
MNEMIC
DEW-SCENTED
MISERY INDEX
RE:AKTOR
DEATHSTARS
DESTRUCTION
PRIMAL FEAR
DIMMU BORGIR

3. Photogallerie

4. Credits

presentation|news|editorials|reviews|interviews|movies and DVD's|live reports|specials|

f**king bollox|tours|dates|suggestions|in store|upcoming releases|underground|

artwork|videoclips|MP3's|venues|cd's archive|links|contacts|gryphonbook

[I Despair]

© GryphonMetal.ch  June 2001Niederrohrdorf - Switzerland