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Nuclear Assault: Louder Harder Faster (DVD)

Formed in 1984 at the onset of the Thrash Metal movement Nuclear Assault was a brutal example of what the genre could do to the ears of the audience. Dan Lilker (originally a member of Anthrax), John Connolly, Glen Evans and Anthony Bramante always aimed to destroy on stage and while not everyone's cup of tea developed a fan base for years to come and released revered Thrash epics such as "Survive" and "Handle with Care". Unlike many of their peers who changed and modified their brand of sound over the years, Nuclear Assault never veered from the path and as a result remained high on the list of their most ardent supporters while at the same time losing some who might have grown out of the style they played. This DVD is the first ever for the band and while it includes what seems to be a kick ass set of material the release itself is nothing more than a disappointment. Shot during the "Louder, Harder, Faster" festival in 2005, this DVD of the same name is a terribly produced effort that uses minimal camera angles and a sub-par sound recording. Drums are too loud in the production while vocals and lead guitars are impossible to hear. Lilkers bass seems to cut through and perhaps this was the positioning of the mics while this was being done. The lighting for the show (mostly reds) also takes away from this leaving me as a viewer very unsatisfied and impatient for the video to finish. Singer John Connolly repeats some inside joke about a white Nissan repeatedly and it just adds to the confusion on the piece when you can even discern what he is singing. This could have been something good but instead is a lackluster issue that comes off more as a bootleg than an official product. It's a shame since this is Nuclear Assaults first such release. Granted there are probably budget restraints but I have seen better done with less and felt that someone dropped the ball in this one. For absolute, must have it all die-hard level fans as opposed to anyone else. Let's hope future editions are done with a little more care.

Bonus Features: Archive live footage, studio sit-downs and some videos.


Song Listing
1. Rise From The Ashes
2. Brainwash
3. F#
4. New Song
5. Critical Mass
6. Game Over/Butt Fuck
7. Sin
8. Price Of Freedom
9. Trail Of Tears

Added: October 12th 2006
Reviewer: Ken Pierce
Score:
Related Link: Nuclear Assault Website
Hits: 2777
Language: english

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Nuclear Assault: Louder Harder Faster (DVD)
Posted by Pete Pardo, SoT Staff Writer on 2006-10-12 14:34:48
My Score:

Thrash legends Nuclear Assault finally have their very first DVD release, Louder Harder Faster. Since their inception in the mid-1980's, this band has been one of the hardest working of the original wave of American thrash groups, and while Nuclear Assault were never as refined, talented, or marketable as Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Testament, Slayer, Overkill, or Exodus, they made up for it with a hard nosed and steadfast mentality. For the longtime fan, this DVD will be a treasure chest, as it contains recent and archival footage of the band in concert, as well as videos, slideshows, and interviews.

Now for the bad news-for the most part, the audio here is pretty abysmal. You can understand the basically bootleg archival footage from the 80's having patchy sound-let's face it, anytime you see rare footage from days gone by you have to look at it from a historical perspective. Seeing Nuclear Assault ripping it up in front of hundreds of moshing maniacs at the Hammersmith Odeon and in Japan is pretty cool, regardless of the quality. But the footage from the Louder Harder Faster festival from 2005 should be what carries this DVD, and it doesn't. The camera work is sloppy, the audio is very drum heavy (guitars and vocals are way back in the mix), making for a very frustrating watch. Overall, with the exception of the videos, the audio throughout this DVD is pretty bad. Still, for the Nuclear Assault fanatic, vintage clips from 1985, and live footage shot at the soon to be defunct CBGB's, will be reason enough to pick this up. If you are looking for a quality DVD presentation, and let's face it, there's a lot of high quality stuff coming out these days, better look elsewhere.




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