Customer Reviews

Live at Masters of Rock

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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Finally! a concert DVD from Canada's Annihilator. This is good time in the life of the band to release a live DVD for 2 reasons(1) it was long overdue and (2) stability in the line-up provided by Dave Padden; something the "band" (read Jeff Waters) hasn't seen in a long time. That being said, on to the review.

The Good: This is the first concert DVD by Annihilator and well worth the wait. Joined on stage by Dave Sheldon and Ryan Ahoff on bass and drums, respectively, the band sounds great. I never really thought that Dave Padden was a good fit for Annihilator but now I don't seem to mind him so much. He is also a great compliment to Jeff as the rhythmn guitarist.

Not so Good: The set-list is only 14 songs (13 not counting the intro). Most of the obvious older stuff is there like Allison Hell, Phantasmogoria, WTYD and Never Neverland. But 9 out of the 13 songs are pre-2000. I was hoping more a more post-2000-heavy set-list; maybe on the next DVD (coming soon?). I was glad to see King Of the Kill come roaring out of the gates to begin the set with Jeff on lead vocals. Joe Comeau-era gems Blackest Day and Shallow Grave also make an apperance. Nothing off of Refresh the Demon, Remains (bummer) and Schizo.

Ugly: Another gripe with the DVD is that it is 4:3 aspect ratio and not HD, given that 99% of new concerts are shot and released in HD (Extreme's Take Us Alive, Exodus - Shovel Headed Tour Machine). Also, no bonus features or videos or anything else.

All in all, could have been a lot more, but for a starved fan of Annihiltor - this is a must own. Buy it and support the band!!

Annihilator's Live at Masters of Rock is an absolutely fantastic concert DVD, which I wholeheartedly recommend to you straight off the bat.
The almost eighty minute concert from 2008, filmed in the Czech Republic features a brilliant track listing, great production values and one of the finest live performances I've seen in a while.
Annihilator's Jeff Waters is an excellent front man and a great showman, getting the crowd excited and talking in between songs in a way that gives the impression of a man who really enjoys what he does.
Singer Dave Padden, Annihilator's longest standing member bar Waters is absolutely fantastic on this record for both his often overlooked contribution on guitar and of course his vocal performance. The extent to which he can replicate the band's first three singer's voices is truly phenomenal, if you didn't know better it'd be very difficult to tell that Padden wasn't the original singer.
The band throw out classics like `King of The Kill,' `Set The World On Fire,' and `I Am In Command,' alongside a few newer tracks, all of the songs gel really well together and the band know what the audience want to hear.
The majority of the set is composed of the fan favorite albums `Alice In Hell,' and `Never Neverland,' two absolute classic Thrash albums, this informs the sound quality quite a bit with the tones and mix seemingly engineered to replicate the production of those albums and sounding fantastic as a result.
The lighting, Camera work and editing are all pretty top notch as well, especially considering that this was recorded at a festival. As a viewing experience the concert works really well and there are not bad cuts, out of sync audio and now cheesy transitions to spoil things for the viewer. What you get is a very pure, natural recording that lets the music do the talking.
If I was forced to say something negative about the DVD, it would be that drummer Ryan Ahoff doesn't get very much screen time but that is about the only thing that comes close to a fault on this excellent product.
To summarize, even as an absolutely avid fan of Live concert DVDs; this is one of the most impressive note perfect performances I've seen and even the most casual Annihilator fan should give this DVD serious consideration.

Annihilator show their ability to duplicate the studio records to a T! Very tight performance. Anyone who likes guitar driven metal should get this CD/DVD.

Jeff Waters is undeniably a great player, but I have to take my hat off to Dave Padden who sings almost every song and plays to perfection.

This shreds! Sure there's a couple of songs from the (off) cd's but they kill on this DVD. Great sonics and a lot of fun! 60 minutes or more of thrashtastic killer songs. Enjoy!

Excellent show of the tour "Annihilator Metal" where a compilation of their best hits are presented in this DVD...
lets us see the strength of their presentation as one of the best metal bands of all time, Jeff Waters continues to impress with their sharpness to play the best guitar riffs, this DVD is highly recommend to all fans of ANNIHILATOR, has an excellent picture and sound ...

THE very first time I heard ANNIHILATORS past albums I was hoping and wishing that one day would come that he would make a live dvd of one of his on the road projects so we that being let me start: JEFF WATERS is one of the best guitarist and technician of his kind,a man from CANADA that can belt out some serious chops and I love his signature v guitars.HE picked out some good songs for this dvd from KING OF THE KILL TO ALISON IN HELL and a good rockin tune to finish his set.the quality of the dvd is super with the fans in mind as JEFF mixed it well in his studio,I think it is top notch and I would recommend this to anyone in the thrash/hard rock scene so its a must have.THE whole time you watching the band performing it is a moving experience one song after another even when JEFF WATERS takes a moment for his self or the other members you know that its getting time to speed things back up in high gear and keep you rockin in your seats.I am very impressed and very pleased by far this is a masterpiece of ANNIHILATOR with JEFF WATERS as the captain...

I was very impressed with this live recording. Dave Padden handled all of the old Annihilator songs very well, and the music as always was great!