Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Iced Earth
Label: Century Media
Release: 2006
It’s a bit of a thankless job to review a cult release like this concert video, whose recording is still considered one of the best live albums ever, and not just in metal. Personally, I’m generally dead set against any label acting against the wishes of a band, but when the band’s former label, Century Media (Iced Earth left the label before recording their latest album The Glorious Burden), announced it was going to release a DVD featuring the legendary Athens concert, the hearts of fans all over the world probably skipped a beat (mine did :). But soon after the news, the band’s mastermind Jon Schaffer spoke up and said it was a low-budget product with “bootleg” quality footage and lousy editing. So where does the truth lie? Let’s call a spade a spade: as in all cases like this, somewhere in the middle.
It’s definitely not a recording you could compare to, say, the DVDs of Maiden or Manowar, but it’s a very high-quality release and far from what Schaffer made it out to be (Jon is actually known for his at times hilarious and absurd statements).
But let’s leave the backstory of this disc behind and focus on its content instead. As you may already know, it’s a recording of a 1999 concert that took place over two consecutive nights (January 23 and 24) at the Rodon hall in Athens. The concert was originally recorded just for the live album, but the TV channel Viva covered it with a film crew too. A few concert clips could therefore be seen in a show hosted by Schaffer himself, in which he presented some of his favorite music videos and a few short excerpts from the concert. Now, though, for the first time ever, you can see almost the entire recording of that legendary performance. Why almost? Apparently the film crew really wasn’t prepared (grrr, rookies) and sadly we’re missing three great tracks. Because of tape changes, the Century Media team wasn’t able to restore Iced Earth, Slave to the Dark, and sadly also the excellent A Question of Heaven, all three of which do appear on the CD release. It should also be mentioned that this isn’t some ultra-high-tech DVD with 20 cameras, a director and an army of assistants… which is not a minus for this release, quite the opposite. The concert was captured by just three cameras, but they did their job that much better. So we finally got a release where the camera doesn’t jump around every couple of seconds, but dedicates itself to each member: during Larry Tarnowski’s solos it sneaks up voyeuristically on his fast fingers, catches the dynamic drumming and every possible expression popping up on Brent Smedley’s face, follows the fast bass lines of James MacDonough, and focuses on the band’s two central figures, Schaffer and Matt Barlow. Last but not least, it effectively shows off the fanatical Greek crowd (around 5,000 of them gathered over the two nights). That magical night eight years ago, the band was truly at the peak of its career, and the lineup at this concert is probably the best lineup in the band’s history (unless you count the one from the Horror Show album; Richard Christy on drums and Steve DiGiorgio on bass are just hard to top).
The setlist is “jaw-dropping” too, a superb overview of the band’s entire career up to the album Something Wicked This Way Comes, which the band was promoting on this tour. So we get everything from classics like When the Night Falls (from the album Iced Earth), Angels Holocaust, Stormrider, Travel in Stygian (Night of the Stormrider), the epic 16-minute closer of Burnt Offerings, Dante’s Inferno, then I Died For You and The Hunter from The Dark Saga, plus the fantastic Something Wicked This Way Comes trilogy. All told, we get 28 tracks, which adds up to more than two and a half hours of pure bliss!
The sound production deserves a big plus too. Hats off to the Century Media sound engineers, the 5.1 DTS soundtrack is unbelievable (there’s also a regular 2.0 stereo mode). Every single instrument is audible on its own, not one played note gets lost, and Matt Barlow’s phenomenal singing is… um… honestly, speechless. Truly one of the best vocalists in metal. The crowd is also what makes this concert special, and this release really feels like a live album. The cheering and screaming is just right, not distracting, and actually adds to the atmosphere while watching; it’s like you’re standing in the middle of Rodon yourself, in a crowd of two thousand.
Quick word on the extras, which are nothing special. A concert like this doesn’t need them anyway 🙂 We get two short clips: Jon Schaffer in Athens, where Schaffer plays tourist guide and gives us a short, fun tour of Athens, and Iced Earth Backstage, which is basically a bunch of interviews recorded all at once, so you can’t even make out the talking. Like I said, the extras aren’t important here. Let’s quickly look at the nicely designed box too. Set Abominae glares menacingly at us from the cover (it’s the same cover as the CD release), and the accompanying booklet gives us all the lyrics and a selection of nice photos.
If you haven’t heard the Alive in Athens CD yet, the DVD will surely convince you why this concert went down in music history. And if you already own the CD, dust off your shelves and make room for this disc too.
Lineup
Jon Schaffer: rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Matthew Barlow: vocals
James MacDonough: bass guitar
Larry Tarnowski: lead guitar
Session musicians:
Rick Risberg: keyboards
Brent Smedley: drums
Production
Jon Schaffer and Jim Morris
Track list
1. Intro
2. Burning Times
3. Vengeance Is Mine
4. Dark Saga
5. Last Laugh
6. Cast in Stone
7. Last December
8. Pure Evil
9. Desert Rain
10. Dante’s Inferno
11. The Hunter
12. Melancholy (Holy Martyr)
13. Angels Holocaust
14. Stormrider
15. The Path I Choose
16. Watching Over Me
17. Diary
18. Blessed Are You
19. When The Night Falls
20. My Own Savior
21. Travel In Stygian
22. Violate
23. Stand Alone
24. Brainwashed
25. Disciples Of The Lie
26. I Died For You
27. Prophecy
28. Birth Of The Wicked
29. The Coming Curse
30. Epilog
BONUS:
Iced Earth Backstage
Jon Schaffer in Athens
Trajanje: 170 minut
