I actually heard about Metalium from a Savatage message board a few years back. It seemed that one of the members would soon be joining Savatage (Jack Frost) in 2000. At the time Chris Caffery of Savatage had already done the first CD, Millennium Metal: Chapter One, and done some touring with them. Most of the songs on the DVD are from that CD. The footage on this piece is a little disjointed in its cinematography you can see Jack as well as Chris in a number or two. There are many fast pans, and shots from different shows to make it look more interesting. Yet I did find that a little tricky to follow since I was trying to see who was playing when.
Members of most of the group consist mainly of Lars Ratz (bass), Matthias Lange (guitar), Henning Basse (vocals), Mark Cross (Drums), Chris Caffery (guitar), Jack Frost (guitar). There are some other players as well. Lars serves as the footage commentator for the piece which makes it interesting to me since he is the Founder of the group. It comes across as more realistic since he is part of this, and not just some commentator. There is a lot of road footage and tour bus kidding around. A personal favorite of mine was when Chris Caffery was showing the group New York City. As a resident for many years, it added to the "cool" factor for me.
Despite one or two minor gripes this is a good piece. The songs that Metalium had were catchy and most certainly heavy. However, the songs are not shown in their entirety for the most part and that makes for a loss of points in my book. I feel if the footage is there, why not show the entire tune. People buy live DVDs to see the whole song. It gains high marks for having an included live CD in the package. The songs on this are listed below.
I did enjoy the DVD and can say that power metal fans will enjoy it. More so, I think it is for the Metalium fanatic who must have everything that the band releases. A casual fan might be put off by its inconsistency. If you are a fan of rock documentary this serves as a good example of a band that began as a project with one or two songs and became a solid touring metal force.
Track Listing (DVD)
1. Fight
2. Break The Spell
3. Smoke On The Water
4. Dream Of Doom
5. Metalium
6. Years Of Darion
7. Steel Avenger
8. Free Forever
9. Dust In The Wind
Track Listing (CD)
1. Circle Of Fate
2. Fight
3. Years Of Darion
4. Metalium
5. Prophecy
6. Free Forever
7. Dust In The Wind
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