Annihilator – Live At Masters of Rock

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Finally arriving some time after the North American and mainland European release Live At Masters of Rock is Annihilator’s first ever full concert DVD, and a far better prospect than the Ten Years In Hell collection of clips, which represent their only other venture onto DVD and was rather disappointing in all areas. Filmed at the Masters of Rock festival in the Czech Republic in 2008 this is their complete 80-minute set on a brilliantly no-nonsense DVD which isn’t over-burdened with superfluous extras; just the show. As with most things band leader Jeff Waters produces the sound quality here is superb (and similarly razor-sharp to production legend Andy Sneap), and the camera work and video quality courtesy of local companies T.N.T. Media and Wide TV, and directed by The Campbell Brothers, are both excellent. The 2008 setlist was very similar to the 2007 one, if in a slightly different order, but with the welcome addition of Shallow Grave, of which the version here is one of the best. This is the perfect live product, combining first-class audio and video quality with excellent camera-work and editing, a great performance by the band (particularly Dave Padden, who was the best thing to happen to Annihilator for years when he joined in 2003) and a complete disregard for wasting everyone’s time with extras. It’s the first live document of the band since 2003’s Double Live Annihilation album, and the first with Padden on guitar and vocals (that album was recorded in 2002 when Joe Comeau fronted the band), and a must for any Annihilator fan, or indeed thrash fan.

Written by Andy Lye
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