Wacken Open Air has long been considered the Metal Festival of note for many, many years and over the course of its three days plays host to tens of thousands of head bangers who get to indulge in the performances of dozens upon dozens of the worlds most popular Heavy Metal bands. Legendary Thrash Metal icons Overkill are no strangers to a stage like this one but it's the first time that their fans are treated to the full set performed by the group on a DVD. It's the perfect thing for those of us who have too many commitments to allow for a quick jaunt over to Germany to indulge in a hefty dose of Metal mayhem. Live At Wacken Open Air 2007 presents to the home viewer just what it sets out to without the addition of any unnecessary bells and whistles. Instead it's a full fifty minutes of head banging delight at the hands of the genres respected veterans. The group had just signed their deal with Bodog Music and delivered Immortalis, an album that not only found the band returning to a little more of their roots in terms of musical direction but also a move that paired them up again with Johnny and Marcia Zazula of Megaforce Records days gone by. This DVD is actually the second one from Overkill as the first was Wrecking Everything, a double DVD devastation from Asbury Park, NJ where you not only got the concert but a cool batch of additional features as well such as a band documentary. Such things can often be dreadful, but a band that was as do it yourself from the streets of the cities of New York and New Jersey like Overkill was sure makes for some interesting viewing. This film however is just the concert and if you feel this is not enough to pique your interest then just look at the song selection. We get some of the vintage tunes on this one and they are stacked up against a couple of the bands newest tracks and believe it or not they all stand strong together. The material on this set is rock solid and the band is in incredible form as they continue to show that Old School in no way at all means too old to rock like Hell. Having seen Overkill in concert a number of times over the years I enjoyed in particular how this shows the band with almost a new confidence about their place in the scheme of things. They always come off like they on top of their game but with this video it just seemed a little bit more so. This is a straight concert shoot but unlike many we see this one manages to get in great angles and shots from behind the drum kit and from all guitar players. There are even a couple of shots from Bobby's microphone "Blitz Cam". While it only runs ten songs in length one can say that the entire performance is a worthy highlight as opposed to a single tune or three. I enjoyed seeing the classic numbers "Rotten To The Core" and "Wrecking Crew" performed alongside new tracks like "Skull And Bones" as it works but I admit I was a little disappointed in the fact that no surprise visit from Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe took place since he does the tune on the album with them. Such things are not uncommon at festivals like these.
I watched this straight through a couple of times before I turned it off and found that it totally serves one's Metal need when it came down to it. Give it up for Overkill who are still going strong after more than two decades in the business and don't seem to be slowing down in the least. This DVD is a must have for any Thrasher out there and check out the new album as well.
Note: This DVD came with the initial pressings of the European release of Immortalis but lucky for the rest of the world they decided to release it as a stand alone item as well.
Track Listing
1. Rotten To The Core
2. Elimination
3. Necroshine
4. Thanx For Nothin'
5. Skull And Bones
6. In Union We Stand
7. Walk Through Fire
8. Wrecking Crew
9. Old School
10. F**k You
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
