Product Details

• Actors: Nick Catanese, Frederick E. Kowalo, James Lomenzo, Craig Nunenmacher, Zakk Wylde
• Directors: Eric Zimmerman, Nik Jamgocyan
• Format: Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Eagle Rock Ent
• DVD Release Date: August 22, 2006
• Run Time: 210 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000FP2ZVW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,431 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Black Label Society: The European Invasion - Doom Troopin' Live" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Black Label Society is the brain child of guitar great Zakk Wylde. Hard and heavy, big on riffs and even bigger on the solos, BLS is the bastard child of Black Sabbath only pumped up on steroids. Having graced the world’s stages for the last 18 years, both as Ozzy Osbourne’s right hand man as well as fronting BLS, Zakk Wylde has established himself as one of the few remaining guitar heroes. "European Invasion" captures BLS live on their sold out European tour last year - one of the most anticipated tours of the year and they didn’t disappoint. Witness the full Paris show as well as 4 tracks from the Astoria in London. Bonus footage includes a 1 hour long On The Road documentary, 3 promo videos taken from the Billboard top 20 album "Mafia" and the making of documentary for the promo video "Suicide Messiah".

Tracklisting:

Disc 1
Paris Chapter
1. Stoned and Drunk 2. Destruction Overdrive 3. Been a Long Time 4. Funeral Bell 5. Suffering Overdue 6. In this River 7. Suicide Messiah 8. Demise of Sanity 9. Spread Your Wings 10. Solo Acoustic Jam 11. Spoke in the Wheel 12. Fire it Up 13. Stillborn 14. Genocide Junkies

London Chapter
1. Been a Long Time 2. Suicide Messiah 3. Stillborn 4. Genocide Junkies

Disc 2
Backstage Pass – On the Road Documentary.
Promo videos for Suicide Messiah, Fire it Up and In This River.
The making of the Suicide Messiah promo video.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Going Wylde In Paris, January 2, 2007

By 

Sky (New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Black Label Society: The European Invasion - Doom Troopin' Live (DVD)

In some of my other music DVD reviews, I take the tact of applying a set of standards to a release and establishing how the DVD in question measures up. Let me say in advance that when I take this tact, it usually means that I was disappointed in the release. Such is the case with Black Label Society: The European Invasion - Doom Troopin' Live.

A memo should go out to all bands and music DVD producers that says at minimum: "1) Music DVD's should be produced to the highest standards. 2) The musical performances within should represent the talent that made the studio recorded CDs sell. 3) Theatrics are very cool too, as long as you can pull them off without deterioration in the quality of the music."

Let's break it down then for Doom Troopin':

1 - "Music DVD's should be produced to the highest standards." - The picture quality in Doom Troopin' is average. Look, I understand that it's more expensive for the band to record in high def, but Doom Troopin' looked like it was recorded in the '80s. The picture just wasn't up to the standards set by some of the better releases of the past few years (click on my name above to see my Listmania List of The Best Rock DVDs With High Quality A/V).

Further contributing to a below average experience, the director has chosen to indulge in what he feels is "cool production" versus giving the viewer a front row seat to the performance. There are a lot split screens and funky video effects (you know, like image stretching and goofy '70s-like animated image overlays). This kind of junk really ruins the illusion of having a front row seat to the show.

The sound is okay. You get your choice between Dolby Stereo, Dolby 5.1 or DTS. But the mix is way below average. Either the producers of Doom Troopin' were novices or their equipment needs a big-time upgrade. I've viewed some recent rock music DVDs (again see the Listmania list that I referred to earlier) that sound as good as being at the show; a good recording shakes the foundations of my house through my 5.1 system but sounds as clear as if the band was playing live. Doom Troopin' sounds almost like it was recorded with the bass levels way down; it almost sounds like an amplified version of the way a live concert would sound from the lobby just outside the performance auditorium.

The one bright side to the video was that the shots actually lasted long enough to take them in before changing angles. Too often you find entire music DVDs where the visual often jumps around similar to the music video format of "4 seconds then cut to another view". Doom Troopin' gives you some good, long lasting looks.

2 - "The musical performances within should represent the talent that made the studio recorded CDs sell." - You say, "Eddie Van Halen," and everyone knows who you're talking about. You say, "Zakk Wylde," and everyone goes, "who?" Zakk Wylde is one of the best...no wait...IS the best hard rock guitarist on the circuit today. His riffs are heavy and melodic and his solos are complex and precise. He definitely brings his guitar playing talent to his live shows. And all of the guys in the band prior to hitting the stage must have huddled and committed to each other to go out and play the music true to the studio versions of the songs. All of the tracks on Doom Troopin' are performed very well (albeit with some jamming that gets a bit long in the tooth after a while).

And Zakk's voice is as good as it is on the CDs. Zakk's singing voice has the same nasally sound familiar with Layne Staley (Alice in Chains), Ryan McCombs (Drowning Pool formerly of SOiL) and...um...Ozzy!. Zakk's not quite as good as the three aforementioned fellows, but he gets the job done.

3 - "Theatrics are very cool too, as long as you can pull them off without deterioration in the quality of the music." - The theatrics were minimal in the show, and that's the way BLS is. They're about the music. Zakk, John DeServio (the bass player that looks just like Zack), Nick Catanese (guitar) and Craig Nunenmacher (drums) just go out and play the music. Pretty much the only attempt at theatrics was Zack stopping into his pub between each song to down a pint of ale. Some dude makes a guest appearance to help pump up the crowd, crowd-surf and sing along with some of the songs, but it's never really clear who the heck it is.

One other note is that a live performance includes getting the audience charged up. Man, was this audience charged up! Gotta hand it to BLS for establishing a loyal, rowdy following.

All in all...it's a decent performance with a very very distracting choice in video production. If you are a dedicated BLS fan that for whatever reason hasn't made it to an actual performance, Doom Troopin' is no substitute. If you don't care about a quality viewing experience then Doom Troopin' should work just fine.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zakk and the Doom Crew are at it again !, November 9, 2006

By 

Ray Delmazzio (Conn.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Label Society: The European Invasion - Doom Troopin' Live (DVD)

This offering by BLS, recorded in Paris on the Mafia tour is by far their best so far: The overall Mix/Sound,Song Selection & Raw Energy are all in top form here ! Also of note to all Pantera/Metal fans is the inclusion of "In This River"- Zakk's moving tribute to his best friend,Dimebag Darrell. Highlights(there are plenty),include "Stoned And Drunk","Stillborn","Been A Long Time","Suicide Messiah","Funeral Bell","Fire It Up", AND MANY MORE ! The second disc is a four song set from London, which rounds out what is a blistering live set form Black Label and Co. Enjoy this one and marvel at the guitar alter of Zakk Wylde !!

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Zakk Delivers The Goods, August 29, 2006

By 

Samuel G. Powell (Kaneohe, HI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Label Society: The European Invasion - Doom Troopin' Live (DVD)

Zakk Wylde is an easy target for anyone who wants to criticize the heavy metal/hard rock guitar stereotype. But the guy is obviously for real - he's no stereotype, he's an archetype, and for anyone who appreciates pull-out-all-the-stops rock guitar, he is the complete package. This DVD is the single best produced hard rock concert video I've seen. The band manages to be raw and polished at the same time - not an easy trick. This is an improvement over "Boozed Broozed & Broken Boned" in every way - and that was a glorious sonic assault.

Zakk has obviously paid attention to his critics and has made a few changes without selling out at all. He relies far less on pinch harmonics in his guitar work, he's toned down the stage profanity which was previously far overdone, the band is tight and well rehearsed, the audience participation is used to best possible effect, the set list draws on his strongest Black Label Society material, and he's even increased his already-exceptional prowess on his instrument. The acrobat has a few new stunts!

The "intro jam" sets the tone well, opening with the band attacking their instruments, and they don't let up. It's not until the first pause comes in "Been A Long Time" that you realize just how much noise you've been exposed to so far. When this band takes a pause for a beat, it's the most solid proof yet that the note with the most impact is not a note at all - it's silence: the pause. The "Iron Man Interlude" is really just the first few bars of the Sabbath song. It would really be something if Black Label Society took the Dream Theater route and recreated an entire Sabbath album - or just did a set of covers. I'd plop down god money for that.

In This River slows things down a bit and gives Zakk a softer texture to play over. I wouldn't insult the song by calling it a "ballad," it's just a bit lighter than everything that's happened to that point in the Paris concert. Suicide Messiah has what I consider to be the heaviest guitar tone I've heard, and the band has real fun with it. I don't think I've ever seen Zakk smile onstage, but in the postlude to Suicide Messiah he's clearly having real fun and great interaction with Nick Catanese. Just to show the DVD is not "prettied up" in post-production, there's a point in the postlude where Zakk is about to switch pickups and use the pickup switch as a kind of tonal/volume modulation, and the volume on the pickup he switches to is clearly not set right, and he has to make a quick correction. Catanese gives him a bit of a poke for fun when the mistake happens. A nice moment to see between musicians.

The acoustic solo set is very casual, with Zakk just jamming and throwing in some old riffs (including a bar from Pride & Glory's "Machine Gun Man"). A set for true guitar freaks only, as subtlety is the least used weapon in Zakk's arsenal. The set finishes as heavy as it started with Fire It Up, Stillborn and Genocide Junkies. Riffing overkill from start to finish. In addition to the complete concert filmed in Paris, there are 4 tracks taken from a London show - also very strong, but nothing new - different performances of "Been A Long Time," "Suicide Messiah," a take from "Stillborn Jam" and "Genocide Junkies."

Disc two features a better than average road documentary of the band and three videos, but it's the concerts that merit this DVD a 5 star rating.

One thing I thought was very cool - Zakk brings a bunch of people up onstage from the audience at one point and straps his guitar on one of them. The guy actually plays pretty well, and obviously has the time of his life getting the unexpected opportunity to jam with Black Label Society.

Great DVD, a bargain at the MSRP - and please, people, if you haven't seen it please don't comment. The whole 357 group issue is addressed on Zakk's website, and I'm sorry if a few unscrupulous businessmen scammed some Zakk fans, but that has nothing to do with the quality of this DVD.