Album Reviews : Death Angel – Sonic German Beatdown Live (DVD)

Sonic German Beatdown is a live recording of Death Angel’s performance at the Rock Hard Festival, Germany in 2007.

Before Death Angel take to the stage, they are introduced by a festival organiser, after which they blast through their set, pedal to the metal. The recording of the whole set is seamless – everything is there, even the onstage banter and crowd interaction between songs – everything a live video SHOULD have. In the song Kill As One, you can even see every raindrop falling on the crowd, and hear the crowd chant “Kill As One” on frontman Mark Osegueda’s cue.

Sonic German Beatdown has captured the very essence of Death Angel’s live energy, “bottling” it into a DVD for anyone who has ever seen Death Angel live to be able to relive that awesome power at their own leisure. For those who have not seen Death Angel live, after watching this DVD they will WANT to check them out next time they’re in town!

Those who saw Death Angel during their Australian tour in March 2009 will certainly appreciate this DVD, those who missed will see precisely what they missed out on.

The sound on the DVD is crisp and each instrument is audible, with no faltering on part of the sound engineer, and the picture quality is crystal clear, giving credit to the advancements in live audio-visual recording technology. There were one or two special effects thrown in during post-production, adding a bit of flavour to the visual feast.

The DVD contains two bonus video clips. The promo had the clips for Thicker Than Blood and Dethroned, however Nuclear Blast’s webstore states that the two bonus video clips are The Ultraviolence/Thrashers and Resurrection Machine. Regardless, the bonus material is there so you can’t complain about that! The commercial release also includes the live recording of their performance at The Live Factory, Adelsheim, Germany in 2008 and a live CD.

Band: Death Angel
Album: Sonic German Beatdown
Year: 2009
Genre: Thrash Metal
Label: Nuclear Blast
Origin: San Francisco, California
www.myspace.com/deathangel

Tracklisting:

Live at the Rock Hard Festival, Germany 2007
1.    Intro
2.    Seemingly Endless Time
3.    Voracious Souls
4.    Mistress of Pain
5.    Ex-Tc
6.    3rd Floor
7.    Thrown To The Wolves <- Reviewer’s Choice
8.    5 Steps of Freedom <-Reviewer’s Choice
9.    Thicker Than Blood <- Reviewer’s Choice
10.    The Devil Incarnate
11.    Disturbing The Peace
12.    Stagnant
13.    The Ultra Violence (introduction: Carnival Justice)
14.    Bored
15.    Kill As One <- Reviewer’s Choice

Live at the Live Factory, Adelsheim, Germany 2008
1.    Lord of Hate
2.    Evil Priest
3.    Buried Alive
4.    Dethroned
5.    Carnival Justice
6.    Voracious Souls
7.    Sonic Beatdown
8.    When Worlds Collide
9.    Seemingly Endless Time
10.    Mistress of Pain
11.    God vs. God
12.    Steal the Crown
13.    3rd Floor
14.    Soulless
15.    Kill As One

Reviewed by: Megan Masters