• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5

This is the first volume of the DVD edition of the well-known Metalmeister compilation.  It contains 17 videos by: Six Feet Under, Armored Saint (2), Fates Warning (2), Galactic Cowboys, Cannibal Corpse, Gwar (2, unfortunately), Mercyful Fate (2), Grip Inc., King's X, Lizzy Borden, Trouble, Sacred Reich and Flotsam And Jetsam.  There are also two short interviews with Lizzy Borden and Fates Warning, both from Video Meltdown in 1990.

Also included are band photos and discography (one screen per band), and the history of Metal Blade Records.  Unfortunately, the latter is in text only.  Given that this is a DVD, it would have been interesting to have it recounted by the founder and maybe have some "moments of glory" shown as well.

This compilation has something for everybody, from somewhat commercial metal to extreme metal (Six Feet Under, Cannibal Corpse).  I sure could have lived without the Gwar videos, or at least the could have included only one.  It's not like they don't have other artists under the Metal Blade label.  I always considered Gwar to be a bad joke, and there's nothing there to prove me wrong.

Well, it is essentially that.  17 videos, plus a couple of quick additions.  I think they could have done better with a DVD release.  The videos are very variable in quality and taste (or lack of), it's a cheap way to experiment a few bands without having to buy the albums, or hoping that the videos will air on TV :).

Hopefully future Metalmeister DVD compilations will take more advantage of the capabilities offered by the DVD technology, and will offer videos from some of the more recent bands on that label.