Symphony For The Devil marks the return of the one and only Type-O-Negative and this return comes to us as the bands first release on new label SPV Records. The DVD takes you deep into the life they lead musically as well as offer a very ample amount of the dark sense of humor that the band possesses. To make sense of the film, I have broken the review into two parts. The first will be the concert and the next the bonus features and comedy segments.
Concert: The concert film feature is from the Bizarre Fest in Germany from 1999. I know this because several years ago I ordered this on E-bay and have enjoyed it very much. While the show is older, the set performed was in support of World Coming Down and it is a perfect reminder of both the incredible power and sense of humor that the band possesses in concert. The professional production that has been given to this concert in the cleaner sound and video quality makes the end result utterly amazing. If you have never seen Type-O-Negative in concert before then you should be aware, on how good they perform and thanks to this DVD, you will get a great idea of what I am talking about. Since I was a fan for a number of years, I looked forward to this release as it is the first official live concert of the group. Their first DVD was strictly videos and mixed with various levels of tomfoolery. The set list for this performance is a great one and includes songs from across their catalog seeming to touch upon most of the albums barring Origin Of The Feces. The strongest amount of tunes comes from October Rust, which was the bands most commercially effective album. Having seen a couple of performances during this tour, I would have enjoyed seeing "Pyretta Blaze" or "World Coming Down" itself, but they were not performed at this show. The unique use of Pink Floyd's "In The Flesh" is a great way to start and sadly, their rendition of "Back In The USSR" (featured on the bootlegged tape) would be omitted. There was probably a little difficulty in getting Michael Jackson's permission to secure rights to show case it. Stand out tracks from the performance are "Love You To Death", "Christian Woman" and "Wolf Moon". The concert shows you up close how imposing bassist/singer Peter Steele is on stage while Josh Silver (keyboards) and Kenny Hickey (guitar) blend their atmospheric sounds together against the pounding drums of Johnny Kelly. As you watch it seems like Johnny is having the most fun of all, as he seems to be laughing quite a bit.
Bonus Features: Where does one begin on this part of the content except by stressing that the bonuses will offend, insult and downright make you question the bands sanity as well as your own for sitting through them. In addition to the participation of various members of the band, the road crew and their comedic relief "Slitzy" take you down some truly dark paths. There is a lot of liquored up fun with each other, philosophizing during bowel movements, nudity (both kinds), sexual innuendo and truck driver language. There is also a strong level of political incorrectness and this is to be expected; especially of Type-O-Negative and their cast of characters. Some focus goes to the wild members of their audience and the Gothic girls that love them. You really need to be aware that this stuff is not going to be for everyone - but there are times when you will fall out of your chair laughing at what you just watched. It shows one thing most of all, that the members of Type-O-Negative really have a good time while on the road and make ridiculous use of their time.
The band also includes the first new piece of music recorded in a few years; it is a unique medley of the Santana classics "Oye Como Va", "Black Magic Woman" and "Evil Ways". The track is great and brings back a little of the Bloody Kisses era of the band. I understand this song will NOT appear on the pending studio album, which makes this DVD all the more important to own. I did have one major critique of the release and that was the fact that the concert does not allow you to run straight through. The comedy segments come up every few songs and if this was not up your alley, you would find it disruptive. I guess you will just have to skip around
Track Listing
1. In The Flesh
2. Cinnamon Girl
3. Waste Of Life: Intro
4. Too Late: Frozen
5. In Praise Of Bacchus
6. Kill All The White People
7. Cornucopia
8. Wolf Moon
9. Everything Dies
10. My Girlfriend's Girlfriend
11. Are You Afraid?
12. Gravity
13. Black Sabbath intro
14. Christian Woman
15. Love You To Death
16. Black No. 1
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