Customer Reviews

Cannibal Corpse: Centuries of Torment

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like the title of the review says, Centuries Of Torment isn't meant to be Live Cannibalism 2. So if that's what you're expecting, you're likely to be disappointed. It's more like what 15 Year Killing Spree was, but more of a visual history of the band. Disc 1 is a 3 hour documentary on 20 years of the band, from the early days to today. All of the members, old and current are featured (with the exception of guitarist Bob Rusay), including original vocalist Chris Barnes. 20 years seems like a lot to cram in, and 3 hours is a long time, but if you're patient, it's worth viewing. Disc 2 has live performances from 1989 to 2007. I've loved both eras of the band, but the more recent footage shown is better not because of the performance, but the audio quality. You're kinda reminded of Monolith Of Death when you're watching the older footage on here. While that dvd wasn't a total disaster, it wasn't worth buying. The more recent footage from 2005-2007 is where the quality improves. The Toronto 2006 show is probably my favorite one eventhough the sound is tinny at first, but it improves by the middle of the second song. Second favorite performance is Party.San 2005. If you didn't get enough from the first disc, Disc 3 shows extra footage where they talk about artist Vince Locke, the ban on their first three albums, fan tattoos, Metalocalypse, merch, lyrics, and more. I'm sure that there may be some stuff missing from the documentary, but then it'd probably end up being 4 hours long. Either way, if you're a fan, buy this now.

This DVD set has everthing a fan of this band would want. First Disc 1 has one of the best history segment I have seen since Iron Maiden's Early Years. It talks in great detail the beginnings of the band and each describing each album almost fully.(KIss should do a histry like this) Disc 2 has great live and videos through the years.Disc 3 is also entertaining and quite amusing at times. Don't pass this one by!!!!

Bassist Alex Webster is right: this 3-disk set will keep the CC fan occupied until the next comes out next year. I've been a huge CC fan for years, but this DVD will give any CC expert a run for their money.

The first disk covers the band's history in exhaustive detail. It'll eliminate any confusion about who was in which band before they formed Cannibal. It gives a pretty balanced look behind the reasons for Chris getting kicked out of the band (both the band and Chris himself wanted Chris out). The history is organized by album; musicianship gets lots of coverage here.

The 2nd disk has various CC performances, couple of which are almost entire shows. The rest of the shows are little snippets, some being just one song. It does have all of the music videos, thus negating the need for pixel-y youtube versions. Plus it has Travis from Black Dahlia Murder singing "Stripped, Raped, and Strangled" with George (definitely the highlight).

The 3rd disk has lots of killer bonuses. It contains in-depth discussions of the artwork and the lyrics. The Metalocalypse bit should have been longer; there wasn't any footage of George recording his lines in the booth. The disk does have lots of entertaining tour stories (Rob almost blowing up with the RV, playing in Jonny Depp's Viper for Cher's son's birthday...), and also shows band members living out their personal lives. You may see George is many things, but I think you may see him as more of a peter-pan than a death metal vocalist after viewing this disk. Oh, and there's an amusing claymation short that incorporates a lot of the covers--butchered at birth being the "star" of the short.

In short, every hardcore CC fan (am I covering the entire fanbase here?) should have this! Great performances, and you'll get a deeper insight into the twisted minds of the band.

Here's my review of this awesome product.

Disc 1
History of the band
First DVD explains thoroughly the history of the band (music, line-up, recording of the albums), from the very beginnings to the actual days, all spiced up with friends interviews, opinions from other bands and even words from Metal Blade Records personal.


Disc 2
Live footage
Second disc covers several live presentations of the band. Let's be honest, the old stuff doesn't sound as good as the recent concerts but I think it has its own value (Buffalo gig is memorable)


Disc 3
Extra stuff
Know about Cannibal Corpse fan's tattoos, censorship problematic, insight on band's members, discussion of the lyrics, and even a crazy short film based on the Butchered at Birth album cover.

I really like the packaging: A nice hot-stamped (shinny copper) embossed case that will standout from your DVD collection! I strongly recommend to get a copy while you wait for the new album which is being recorded now!

when i first herd about Cannibal Corpse coming out with a dvd, i was quite hesitant about picking it up. A couple of my friends told me it was very good and to get it. After i got it, i watched it for a week straight. if you are a Cannibal Corpse i highly suggest buying it. it tells you about how the band started, who does their art work, how they right their music and much much more.

As soon as I saw the contents of the DVD a few months before the release, it was clear that this could be one of the best band-related DVDs there is. For me, the best is definitely Evergrey's A Night to Remember, with the hours upon hours of studio work, backstage footage and interviews, all wrapped up with a very good live show.

Centuries of Torment comes very close to that level, but unfortunately it is the live show part that falls ever so slightly short. Personally I've never been a fan of compilation live footage, with material from several different shows with constantly changing audio/video quality. If you prefer it like that, this is a nice DVD. It has clips from many different years and places with few tracks appearing twice. I was horrified when the main girth of the live shows, the Toronto 2006 show, started off in extremely poor sound quality. Luckily the sound picked up after a few songs. Maybe they had technical problems at the mixing/recording desk?

But the interviews and history told by the band themselves, and pretty much anyone who ever had something to do with the band, really makes up for the slight live show troubles. This is definitely one of the most thorough band DVDs I've seen, including the Evergrey one. Nothing is left untouched, and the Bonus Chunks part really goes out there with the bizarre tidbits - delicious!

Overall for the price (especially ordering from Finland, with the Euro being very strong vs. the US Dollar), this is simply an awesome package. The packaging artwork and holographic coating is also very cool, wrapping up this piece into one great release!

If, You are a true fan of death metal know one should go without buying dvd it's a great look at the history of what would become one of best gore bands in the world selling one million cd's and are still playing brutal metal
a must buy!!!

The live shows on this set are really good, but the most entertaining portion of this release is the 3hr documentary on the life stages of Cannibal Corpse from its inception to the modern era. All members past and present are on hand, excluding Bob Rusay (guitars), one of the original members fired after "Tomb of the Mutilated" was released. Alex Webster comes off as a very sincere person about his chosen work, and his portions of the interviews are just about the best. As a fan of the 'Corpse, I would recommend this to just about anybody into death metal--it's a good documentary that shows where a lot of the roots of the USDM around New York and Tampa started at.

IT'S WELL SPENT MONEY. I'M GETTING TO OLD TO HANDLE THE MOSH PITS, SO THESE 3 DVD'S GIVES ME A CHANCE TO SEE CANNIBAL IN CONCERT WITHOUT GETTING ALL BRUISED TO HELL. I DID GET TO SEE GEORGE WHEN HE WAS LEAD VOCALS FOR MONSTROSITY IN MIAMI FLORIDA. HE'S A REAL COOL DUDE. NOT AS INTIMADATING AS HE LOOKS AND SOUNDS ON STAGE. HAVE FUN WATCHING THESE 3 DVD'S THERE EXCELLENT. GET CANNIBALIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This box set IS the essential purchase for all cannibal corpse fanatics.
every important live performance short and long is here (regardless of quality).
every uncensored music video in the bands catalog (not including evisceration plague) including two banned from mtv2's hbb for being too gory is here.
for the history documentary everything minus the bands censorship issues in
germany and abroad(which should be able to be seen on youtube)are here.this doc
is aproximately 3 minutes shy of 3 full hours.

i would love to see cc issue a dvd covering all the censorship problems they have had to deal with from the beginning to current, WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT.

if you don't have evisceration plague yet? be true to the gore and get your
copy in two disc digi-pak format NOW!

I have been a worshipper of this band since 1990 and thanks to this band i'm a proud
gorehound dvd videophile. blood, guts and gory to all whom bow to the corpsegrinder!! for you are all worthy:) and remember, otto backwards is still otto.