APOCALYPTICA
The Life Burns Tour
Jive/ZombaTrack listing:
Every time the opportunity arises to listen to APOCALYPTICA I can be heard muttering something about having immense respect for the metal-by-way-of-cello group, but not having the patience for it. Then I listen to it and wonder what the hell I was thinking. The band's renditions of tunes by the likes of (vintage) METALLICA are amazing (as are the majestic originals) and burn hotter than hell. So there I went again thinking that "The Life Burns Tour" DVD was going to bore the hell out of me, only to realize that putting the visuals with the music makes for one hell of a performance. And that's the bottom line with this DVD; you will be hard pressed to find a more powerful live performance from a group of incredibly talented musicians that really know how to entertain an audience. The superb production values make the DVD that much better.
I don't care if you turn your nose up at any band that incorporates anything but guitar, bass, drums, and vocals (in this case, cellos and drums only); you've got to at least appreciate the magic created by APOCALYPTICA on stage. Once the performance in Düsseldorf, Germany begins, you will pretty well forget about the fact that classical instruments are played and focus purely on the full-on rock concert delivery and metallic intensity of the players. Everything from the lighting to the sound to the stage presence is exquisite. A slew of METALLICA songs are played ("Enter Sandman", "Creeping Death", "Fight Fire with Fire", "Master of Puppets", "Nothing Else Matters", and "Seek and Destroy") and every damn one of them crushes, kills, and destroys. In addition to some originals, the band also tears through SEPULTURA's "Refuse/Resist". Not a moment is wasted and the musicians are clearly giving it everything they've got. Quite simply, they rock like there is no tomorrow.
The extras are kept to a minimum. In addition to a relatively short and self-explanatory "U.S Tour Film" and the making of the "Repressed" video (with Max Cavalera and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE's Matt Tuck),the DVD includes a collection of seven APOCALYPTICA videos. Short and sweet, the "extras" segment is all you'll be able to handle after such an exhausting live performance anyway.
"The Life Burns Tour" DVD captivates from the first notes to the last and makes one appreciate APOCALYPTICA as a band that pushes boundaries and opens mind. Highly recommended.