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Review: Testament - Seen Between The Lines
Testament
www.testamentlegions.com
Seen Between The Lines

Label: Escapi
Year released: 2005

Rating: 3.5/5

Review online: April 18, 2005
Reviewed by: Michel Renaud
Readers Rating
for:
Seen Between The Lines

Rated 4/5 (80%) (10 Votes)
Review

Breathe... This DVD is not recent material from Testament, but rather a spiced up reissue of a VHS release of the same name released all the way back in 1991, arguably at the height of the band's popularity. This is essentially a mix of live and "documentary" cuts put all together. The recipe is essentially: Some live excerpts with various interview segments as well as some backstage and tour footage. So if you were expecting a full live show of Testament, this won't answer your prayers. I'm not much of an amateur of DVDs that mix live excerpts and various documentary and tour footage like this, preferring a full live show with the other stuff left for the "extras" section of the DVD. But in the end this was actually pretty cool to watch, and it doesn't feel too lengthy either. The founding members tell a bit about the formation of the band, various anecdotes and so on - standard stuff, usually interesting albeit with some disposable moments here and there.

The videoclips the band had at the time of the original release are here (Practice What You Preach, Souls of Black, Legacy) and played right after the end of the main feature, which makes me believe this is how the original tape was done (I haven't seen the VHS version, so this is just a guess.) The DVD lets you select the videos from the menu, however. The usual DVD extras are included: Biography (detailed and readable!), discography, image gallery, "dinner with Testament" and "Testament in Tokyo".

This is one of those DVDs that can be classified as "for fans only", mostly because there isn't much "complete" material here. A few live songs aren't enough to satisfy someone with just a passable interest in the band. That said, if you like Testament and haven't seen the original (or you lost it or broke it or whatever), there is definitely some good stuff for you in there.


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