Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Shadows Fall
Label: Century Media
Release: 2005
Shadows Fall are today one of the best-selling bands in metal and probably even the best representatives of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal (NWoAHM) sound. Their 2004 album The War Within is the best-selling record in Century Media’s catalog, with more than 200,000 copies sold. But what you’ve got in front of you here is a look at the band’s first DVD, released in 2005. The Art of Touring was shot between 2002 and 2004 on the tour for The Art of Balance, across the US, Europe and Japan.
VIDEO:
Even before this disc came out, Shadows Fall were eagerly insisting they wanted to pack it with bootleg footage, and that’s exactly what we got. Sadly, that’s ALL we got. The video quality is dismal, the colors are totally washed out, the picture is grainy, and they even threw in some annoying night footage. OK, so the guys decided not to film just one whole show and went for clips from the entire tour instead. That’s perfectly acceptable, if only they hadn’t done it in the worst way possible. Most of the live footage comes from one venue, and in between there are more or less randomly tossed-in snippets from several other gigs. Annoying? You bet. And to top it all off, you’ll barely find a clip shot with more than one camera. Instead of a professionally filmed show, we get one or, whoa, even two angles, and both of those from a static camera. Where’s at least a zoom and a bit of dynamism? It’s the 21st century, the age of cutting-edge digital tech, for crying out loud.
AUDIO:
If the video was a huge letdown, at least the sound can save the DVD, right? Wrong! All we get is 2.0 Dolby Digital. How something like that can happen in an age when 5.1 Dolby Digital is practically standard is beyond me. But so I don’t come off as too demanding, I’ll swallow that too… Yeah, if only the audio were halfway decent. Sadly it’s far from it, the sound is flat-out catastrophic. If this audio track went through any mixing or production at all, strike me down with lightning right now. It feels like the digital audio from the camera was dumped straight onto the disc with zero processing. Brian Fair’s vocals are barely audible and unrecognizable, and the backing vocals are only there for show. The bass guitar might as well not exist, and Jonathan Donais’ wild guitar lines are at least a little easier to make out. I also wonder why the drums sound so bad. With Jason Bittner behind the kit, a multiple award winner and critically acclaimed drummer, they could have really shown off. I’ve got no choice but to slap a big minus on the sound too.
CONTENT:
The main menu surprises with a nice design, but sadly that’s where the good stuff ends. Why can’t you pick individual songs from the main concert? If you want to watch, say, Of One Blood, somewhere in the middle of the show, you’re in for some annoying fast-forwarding. The last straw is the interruptions with some kind of “home videos” between every song. Personally I wouldn’t even mind that much if the clips were at least remotely funny. Puking just doesn’t cut it! They could have taken a cue from Pantera’s home videos, and found a model in Machine Head’s DVD, Elegies, and given us the option to watch the show with or without that footage.
The setlist is good, with mostly songs from The Art of Balance, rounded out by some older ones. I was looking forward most of all to the tribute to the tragically murdered Darrell “Dimebag” Abbott, Pantera’s legendary guitarist. A commendable move by the band for sure… but sadly even that is a total letdown. Considering I already mentioned the extremely bad sound, during the joint performance of Shadows Fall and Damageplan on Pantera’s Walk, all I could do was stare blankly at the screen. I wonder how they can call such a mess a tribute, the sound is truly crap, you can barely hear anything beyond noise.
I hoped that at least the Shenanigans chapter would put me in a better mood, but even with the goofing around they don’t get past a weak and pretty pathetic Jackass imitation. I only cracked a smile at the impersonation of Tony Clifton, one of the characters of cult comedian Andy Kaufman, and at Adam D of Killswitch Engage dressed up as Paul Stanley.
The package is rounded out by all the official music videos from The Art of Balance and The War Within, plus two live covers as bonuses: Live Wire (Motley Crue) and Teasn’ Pleasn’ (Dangerous Toys).
Even though the DVD is stuffed with extras and isn’t even short, running almost two hours, I’m sorry to say I can only advise you against this release. Especially if you’re a more demanding viewer and expect a quality presentation from a DVD. But if you’re a Shadows Fall fan and don’t care much about sound and picture quality, go ahead and pick up The Art of Touring.
Lineup
Brian Fair: vocals
Matthew Bachand: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Jonathan Donais: lead guitar, backing vocals
Paul Romanko: bass
Jason Bittner: drums
Production
Matt Bachand and Jason Bittner
Tracklist
-Main Feature-
01. Introduction
02. Tell us how you really feel
03. Thoughts Without Words (live)
04. Destroyer of Senses (live)
05. The Idiot Box (live)
06. Of One Blood (live)
07. The First Noble Truth (live)
08. Stepping Outside the Circle (live)
09. A Fire in Babylon (live)
10. Fleshold (live)
11. Walk: A Tribute to Dimebag Darrell (live feat. Damageplan)
-Shenanigans-
12. Destruction on the Road
-Music Videos-
13. Thoughts Without Words
14. Destroyer of Senses
15. The Idiot Box
16. The Power of I and I
17. What Drives the Weak
18. Inspiration on Demand
-Bonus Feature-
19. Live Wire
20. Teasn’ Pleasn’ (live feat. Jason McMaster)
Runtime: 114 minutes
