Director: Anthony M. Bongiovi

The wait is over for Slayer fans! This DVD contains one superb live concert, one lengthy documentary, one Slayer video clip for 'Bloodline', and a photo gallery. The production values of all elements are high and the content is absolutely riveting.

The concert footage, recorded on the 7th of December 2001 at the Warfield Auditorium in San Francisco, runs for 90:28 PAL and includes material from their latest CD release God Hates Us All. Overall the presentation is satisfying, with enough coverage of the band playing to give you a sense of being there, together with a handful of obligatory crane shots that appease directorial pretensions. Although the rapid-fire editing suits the music and energy levels of the performance, it is often too fast and choppy to allow you to immerse yourself fully into the experience. Shots cut away impatiently before the hypnotizing musicianship of these metal dinosaurs can take a hold. This is a minor criticism though. My main concerns were even coverage of the guys, including the drummer, who tends to be left out in many filmed concerts to due poor accessibility or lousy camera work, and minimal video trickery.

Probably shot with a digital video camera, the anamorphic image is framed at 1.78:1, meaning it is best suited to widescreen displays. The predominantly red, black and blue colour scheme is crisp with no apparent compression glitches. You may be tempted to nudge the brightness level up a smidgen, but I preferred the darker setting. Just make sure you watch the DVD at night with the lights out.

Two soundtracks are available: a punchy Dolby Digital 5.1 track and a Dolby Digital stereo track (I would have preferred a raw PCM 2.0 track instead as a contrast). Audio fidelity on the surround track is reminiscent of their live CD release Decade of Aggression, mixed into multiple channels and with better clarity. The surround design itself creates an effective sound stage, although most of the activity is directed to the front three channels. The audible bass drum pulses of Paul Bostaph are especially noteworthy because they are often lost in live mixes of metal concerts. The sawtooth guitar work of Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, together with Tom Araya's raspy vocals (supported by the centre channel), do not distort no matter how extreme they become.

Because the concert was so good, the addition of a documentary running to 48:44 PAL came as a pleasant surprise. Band members and fans talk about various aspects of Slayer. The interviewer who solicits the responses from the fans sounds like a condescending, clueless drongo – a failed MTV correspondant, perhaps. This prompts more enthusiastic testimonials from the fans than you would otherwise expect, as they defend and justify their devotion to one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Also included is miscellaneous footage of Slayer on tour, even a signing session at Toombull music in Brisbane.

War at the Warfield, despite the clumsy title, is a Slaytanic feast for the senses. As anyone who has heard God Hates Us All will confirm, these brutes show no sign of slowing down or becoming civil. In short, this is the metal DVD release of the year. I have the UK edition from Universal – an Australian one should not be far off.

Tom Araya – vocals, bass guitar
Kerry King – lead guitar
Jeff Hanneman – lead guitar
Paul Bostaph – drums

Tracks: 'Disciple', 'War Ensemble', 'Stain of Mind', 'New Faith', 'Postmortem', 'Raining Blood', 'Hell Awaits', 'Here Comes the Pain', 'Die by the Sword', 'Dittohead', 'Bloodline', 'God Send Death', 'Dead Skin Mask', 'Seasons in the Abyss', 'Captor of Sin', 'Mandatory Suicide', 'Chemical Warfare', 'South of Heaven', 'Angel of Death'

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