Pulverize the Human Race / III Alliance for War

I really wish that more metal DVDs were like this. I think it reflects the metal spirit much more than the super clean-cut releases you see from first tier bands. The audio quality of the material here is raw but audible, just as it should be; it sounds a lot like what you'd be hearing from the crowd, not just a plugin to a soundboard. I guess it depends on what you're looking for from a live release, but as far as a simulation of the actual concert experience goes, I haven't found much better than this.

If you haven't heard Goatpenis, they're awesome. They dress up as South American guerrilla fighters and play songs about nuclear warfare and genocide in a raw yet melodic style of black/grind. The music is ultra riff-based: very heavy, ripping, catchy riffs that are a sort of combination of Sarcófago and Napalm Death and almost impossibly savage and brutal vocals ranging from standard growls and screeches to pitch-shifted gurgles right out of fucking nowhere. It's great stuff and it just gets better in the live setting.

You know what makes this DVD so great? How fucking huge the members of the band are. This is the first really, really intimidating band I've seen in a long while. Sabbaoth looks like he's pushing 300 pounds of pure muscle, and the other members aren't far behind him in size. Strapped with bandoliers of 7.62 rounds and grenades, setting fire to peace signs, and grinding out with the sort of fervor you'd expect from thirty men distilled to a tenth that amount- it's verging on a goddamn religious experience. You think you know metal? You think it's Manowar and Death? THIS is metal. This is the distilled essence of the aesthetic and the philosophy: zero compromise, zero tolerance, pure hatred.

There's barely any movement on stage. No headbanging. The crowd is sparse and vaguely interested in the band. But there's a fire there that isn't communicated through grandiose gestures and egotistical flair. The music speaks for itself, working brilliantly both as ripping, crushing black/grind as well AND as a sort of philosophical treatise on the merits of war and destruction. Despite how little's really going on on camera, it's a release that benefits hugely from the visual presence of these three men who seem to be doing all they can to kill the audience with riff after bloodthirsty riff. God damn I love this concert.

The CD is rather underwhelming compared to the DVD and I would rate it 71%. This is the less interesting half of the package that included the 'Ill Alliance For War' DVD. Those two releases were sold together as one set, and this is certainly the lesser of the two, composed of merely three re-recorded demo tracks from the earlier days of Goatpenis. They're good songs, but I do think they could have done a bit more than this, especially considering the insane quality of the DVD released alongside it.

This is the pure Goatpenis sound: thrashy, somewhat melodic, headbanging black/grind filled with fantastic, sinister riffs and songs about warfare and genocide. All the typical elements of the band are there: distorted, demonic vocals, fast, pounding drums, and song structures that are both progressive and traditional in nature. The production on these tracks leaves something to be desired, with all three being rather murky, particularly in the guitar department, though they all have strangely different guitar tones. Of the three, 'Eht Tsrow Sdrow' is probably the best track, being a legendary Goatpenis song with some of the sickest, most evil midpaced riffs the band has ever turned out in their lengthy career.

It's unfortunate that this release is so short, particularly when compared to the adjoined DVD. The tracks on this are apart from the production totally massive and deserve a better treatment. I guess it's better when you view the DVD as the main course and this just as a bonus item; still, I kind of wish there were at least a few more tracks to pad it out.