Review by JD on November 5, 2008.

Venom is one of my all time bands, and I was looking forward to seeing my Black Metal gods in all of their glory... but the DVD turns out to be very deceptive. It has the Venom name tacked on it, but it is not what it looks like. Like the worst Christmas ever... you wanted the most popular toy in the world and had bugged people about it for months... and you ended up getting underwear instead.

At first glance, it seemed to be totally awe inspiring documentary all about the Black Metal pioneers, the three piece aberration that is the mighty Venom. What the DVD turns out to be is... well.. Let me just say, one of the biggest let downs I have ever came across to date. What it turns out to be is a collection of out-takes of shows and amateurish footage from different bands living in the same area of Britain as the hellspawn trio is from.

Eighty's bands such as Warfare, Avenger and Saracen all on this very loose documentary format style, a format that honestly does not have any direction to it whatsoever. I wanted Venom, live and kicking my ass in the way they always did... not a collection of metal bands that are footnotes in the history of Metal. It was sort of good to hear the old style school of metal the when it was cutting it's teeth before taking over the world, but that does not really fix what is fifty eight minutes of purely boring and completely uninspired documentary pap that is misleading in it's packaging.

My only redeeming thing is that I can daydream that the boys from Venom find the people who shot this all... and start to kick their wimpy asses all over England for doing this to them.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 4( For Venom... long may they thrash)
Atmosphere: 3
Production: 3
Originality:5
Overall: 3


Rating: 3.8 out of 10

Review by Death8699 on December 22, 2019.

It's sad to say that the grindcore days are over. But at least Napalm Death is still making music, even though it's totally different than what they began as. Time Waits For No Slave is a good illustration where they're coming 2 genres, death metal and some grind. It's odd because I was so used to the Mick Harris blast beats from the 6 years that he was with the band. But Danny is an OK replacement. This album is heavy, but the tempo changes are evident and totally there, but the blasting is limited. The production quality is a little raw, but OK. I liked the whole album. I thought that at least for death metal fans, this is a good one.

The guitars aren't riffing too fast. That intensity is gone, but at least the music sounds good. It's a shame that they lost Jesse. I think he was a big influence on the band being that he was with Terrorizer in the early days. I guess when Mick left the band, that was the end of the real extreme days. I felt that he was the best grindcore drum in existence. Danny is good especially on here. It seems as though he's matured behind the set and is more comfortable with being alongside this band. It's amazing that they've been around since 1981. I was 5 when they formed! Anyway, it's difficult to pinpoint specific highlights on here, just that some tracks are fast then they completely chill out.

I like the variety on this release, it can get really intense. Their newer stuff is LOUD. Meaning their latest release. This album is one of their longer releases, it clocks in at about 50+ minutes. It's worth listening to, but it just takes some getting used to. If you're expecting Napalm Death of the old, it's sad but they're not really doing it. This release I'd say in the death metal genre is solid. I actually decided to order the CD. I know that this album is outdated and they're working on new material. I just thought that I'd write about it anyway. Even if it is an older Napalm Death release.

Saying farewell to Jesse and the departed members of the earlier Napalm. It's a good lineup still and there literally are no leads on this album. It's just all rhythms which is why I like the album. Jesse was more solid in the lead department, but Mitch has constructed some pretty good riffs. They're diverse and that's what makes the album interesting to listen to. I know earlier it sounded as though I wanted old ND back but that just isn't going to happen. What they evolved to is something totally different. A lot of their albums post-Mick are strictly death metal except Utopia Banished. But that one wasn't very good in my opinion.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10