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Darzamat: Live Profanity-Visiting the Graves of Heretics (DVD)

Fans of Polish symphonic death/black metal band Darzamat will be extremely pleased at this brand new DVD (the first from the band) of their 2007 appearances at both the Metalmania Festival and WinterNachtstraum Festival. The Metalmania show was performed on a large stage in front of a packed audience in Poland, and the camera work is top notch, as well as the audio. Playing many of their best tunes, but leaning heavily on their latest release Transkarpatia, the band really were on fire in front of their home crowd. The dueling vocals of Flauros and the lovely Nera work really well, and despite some excellent crunch guitar from Chris, it's the symphonic & orchestral keyboards of Spectre that really makes this band. Tunes like "Vampiric Prose", "Blackward", and "The Burning Times" drip with both ferocity and majestic grandeur. The WinterNachtstraum is shot on a smaller scale in a smaller venue, but the performance is no less impressive. The additional bonus features are many, including tons of tour footage, interviews, videos, and some hilarious backstage & downtime footage that shows just how much fun this band probably is to be around. The scene where they are headbanging behind a few accordion players is priceless, and the drunken escapades will truly make you chuckle.

All in all a great package, and a must own for loyal fans, but also a great place to get your introduction to the band if you haven't yet already.


Track Listing
1. METALMANIA 2007 --
2. Labyrinth of Anxiety
3. The Burning Times
4. Fistful of Ashes
5. Hallucinations
6. Blackward
7. Vampiric Prose
8. The Old Form of Worship
9. Recurring Yell
10. Demise
11. Diabelski Dom cz.II
12. WINTERNACHTSTRAUM FESTIVAL 2007--
13. Intro
14. Blackward
15. Vampiric Prose
16. Era Aggression
17. Labyrinth of Anxiety
18. Hallucinations
19. The Burning Times
20. Fistful of Ashes
21. The Old Form of Worship
22. Storm
Additional Release Material
Additional Audio Material - Equinox, Storm 2005
Interview - Flauros and Nera Clips & Hightlights -
1. "The Burning Times" Video Clip
2. "Era Aggression" Video Clip
3. " In Red Iris" Video Clip
Text/Photo Galleries:
Band History
Discography
Photo Gallery

Added: December 13th 2007
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Darzamat Website
Hits: 2303
Language: english

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Darzamat: Live Profanity-Visiting the Graves of Heretics (DVD)
Posted by Ken Pierce, SoT Staff Writer on 2007-12-13 09:27:46
My Score:

For those who might not be paying attention to the scene that has been coming out of Europe over the last couple of years please allow me to introduce you to Darzamat - one of the most important bands to come out of the Polish Black and Death Metal scene in a long time. As a band, Darzamat is set up in the same fashion as Italy's Lacuna Coil by having six members in the band and being one that features both a male and female shared vocal lead but the comparison ends right there as musically there is no similarity whatsoever between the two. The band is a brutalizing effort that not only combines elements of Black and Death Metal but also employs some of the Symphonic Gothic aspect as well. This video finds the band in their native Poland performing at Metal Mania 2007 at Spodek and the killer set that they deliver shows very clearly why this band is not to be taken lightly. Most of the material in their set comes from the bands most recent albums "Transkarpatia" and "Semi Devlish" – each of them being releases that would appeal to a wide variety of Metal fans. There is a lot of good stuff on the main program with highlights being "Vampiric Prose", "Blackword" and "Burning Times". Those tunes in particular work mainly as a result of how the keyboards of Spectre are done as his influences on the musicality of the band are outright ominous and foreboding. Vocal wise Flauros and Nera (male and female respectively) are very together during the set and each of them holds their own as the concert progresses. Flauros is mostly a growler and Nera does not sing in the normal fashion one might expect. She is less the siren and instead uses a deeper tonality to her voice and aside from this the two front singers are very much into the visuals and show how much they are getting into the songs. I think the level of intensity that Darzamat manages to keep up during their set is one of the things that made them appeal to me all the more after I watched this video. This intensity sets them apart from being just another band that has two lead singers. Of course the drumming and guitar work is to be commended as well and should be mentioned. The stage setting is limited to some of the bands logo ornamentation but as with most of the Metal Mind Production videos we have a great bunch of camera angles and high quality overall sound. They did well for Darzamat who have never released a video of this type according to my research. The dramatic concert ends with a guest appearance by Roman Kostrzewski (lead singer of Alcatraz) who performs "Diabelski Dom cz.II" with them. The singer's added presence seems to go over very well with the crowd and adds to the power of the tune as a closing number. This show ends the main program of the DVD but when you click around the menus you find a whole lot more to explore and as a fan of this kind of release I was incredibly pleased with the additions.

WinternNachtstraum Festival 2007: "Blackward", "Vampiric Prose", "Era Aggression", "Labyrinth Of Anxiety", "Hallucinations", "Fistful Of Ashes", "The Old Form Of Worship", "Storm". – A second full concert set for the viewing audience to enjoy does it a little different from the previous program. This footage finds the group performing in a smaller setting than that of the Metal Mania festival and appears to be much more of an intimate venue by the look of it. I liked the chance to see the band in this kind of club atmosphere for not only does it show that they can pull off the music the same way with limited effects but that it is just as powerful no matter where they are doing it. The filming style was interesting as well, since it used darker shades that in turn provided better mood and atmosphere to the bands already dramatic level of Metal onslaught.

As we delve deeper into the menus we find three of the bands videos ("The Burning Times", "In Red Iris", and "Era Aggression") and these are fine additions to have been included since it presents you with the current lineup and all the groups existing video work to date. There is also a feature called "Shockumentary 1" that shows the band during their European travels as they meet with fans, enjoy the scenery and just have fun like any band who is exploring the world should be doing. There is a lengthy documentary with both Flauros and Nera about the band history that while in Polish, offers the viewer sub-titles to read along that make it something more people can enjoy rather than less.

I highly recommend this DVD for anyone who leans to the Gothic and Black Metal styles most specifically but I think beyond that demographic would enjoy them as well.



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