AA.VV.
Gigantour

In the beginning there was Loolapalooza, then came the Ozzfest from the ex-Black Sabbath, Korn's Family Values, Slayer's Unholy Alliance, and now the Megadeth's Gigantour (or Dave Mustaine, which is the same thing). The lineup is practically terrifying, there are really important names, to give two examples we mention Anthrax (reunion with Belladonna) and Dream Theater.
To witness the tour, this live double album has been released (there is also the DVD) which is not bad at all and offers a lot of excitement, with metal genre classics and truly impeccable performances, the tracks are divided democratically, 2 each (exception for headliners Megadeth who have 3).

In the first disc, we immediately have the highlight of the entire album, the supreme Dream Theater, the absolute masters of Progressive Metal fire up their riffs and progressive sound with their usual mastery live, with two excellent songs from their repertoire, the exciting "Panic Attack" and "The Glass Prison". Also, the Anthrax who are recording live for the first time after the reunion with Joey Belladonna make a fine impression, the singer is in shape and they are in full swing with their breathtaking speed/thrash metal, obviously the songs are hits of the band "Caught In A Mosh" and the legendary "I Am The Law". The Life Of Agony appear a bit lackluster, appearing on the fifth track with their mix of hardcore influenced by hard rock, certainly, beautiful songs ("The Day He Died" and "Love to Let You Down"), but I have never liked them much.

The new generation arrives with Dry Kill Logic, who aren't that new but compared to the previous bands, they are still newborns, their aggressive nu metal (which at times delves into the metalcore very fashionable nowadays) between Sepultura, angrier Limp Bizkit, and Korn is truly exciting, "Lost" touches typical thrash/death growls and powerful nu riffs shot straight in the face, closer to standard nu metal is "Paper Tiger", it recalls the early Mudvayne, however, they certainly don't disgrace themselves. The semi-unknown crossover metallers Bobaflex (who owe a lot to certain alternative rock and RATM) play tightly with alternating vocals and rough guitars, but they present a somewhat repetitive (and "copycat") sound, it all feels overly familiar, but "Medicine" is nice, very close to the early works of Korn and Rage Against The Machine with a catchy chorus, and with Bobaflex, the first disc concludes.

We plunge into the second disc with the hosts, the Megadeth, in better shape than ever lately, having overcome MegaDave's arm problems the band is about to release the follow-up to "The System Has Failed" and in the meantime, we enjoy this performance, the tracks are obviously classics, the beautiful "She Wolf", Dave is in shape and sings decently and the rest of the band plays cohesively, as in the engaging semi-ballad "A Tout Le Mond", returning to speed/thrash rhythms with "Kick the Chair", obviously, the tour organizers couldn't fail, they reaffirm themselves as one of the important bands in the heavy metal scene. The cyber-thrashers Fear Factory, another very important name of the tour, don't impress much, they have a scary and monstrous sound volume but there are no traces of their absolute masterpiece, "Transgression" and "Archetype" are presented, decent for sure, but "Demanufacture" (with Cazares) was something else, still not that they play badly, quite the contrary.

We go fast with the Nevermore the speed/progressive/thrash metallers (I know too many adjectives but they seem to me the union of these genres), practically excellent! They bring "Born" and "Enemies of Reality", beautiful. The always winning power/classic metallers Symphony X give a lesson of technique to almost all the artists of the lineup, one of the best bands of the genre, obviously influenced by power and progressive, perform "Inferno (Unleash the Fire)" and "Of Sins and Shadows", with excellent duets between guitars and keyboards, competent frontman.

In conclusion, it is a good live compilation that captures the best moments of the tour with bands at the top of their capacities, moreover having an excellent recording it is highly recommended.