I have said it before and I will keep saying that FIREWIND are not a firework in the Metal scene. Gus has been working his way up from the moment he joined DREAM EVIL and When he felt strong enough he was focused on his main band FIREWIND. Through hard work and with a solid lineup the Greek based band released two really good albums Allegiance and The Premonition.
The last one turned to be a great success giving the band the chance to extensively tour in Europe and the US. In order take full advantage of the momentum from this success Century Media releases the first FIREWIND DVD under the title Live Premonition.
The band to decided to film the gig in their hometown Thessaloniki to honor the Greek fans for their support by performing The Premonition in its entirety. In the recent interview I had with Gus I realized how enthusiastic he was about this recording so I was very curious to see it with my own eyes. Well, to be honest I did not have the highest of expectations since the first live DVD filmed upon Greece soil from ICED EARTH was at least amateur.
To get the people moving the band wisely chose Allegiance from the previous album entering the stage in a really high mood. The sound to my surprise is very good without any signs of over-production in the studio. Although the light show is nothing special the DVD comes with clear picture and very good contrast showing everything that took place upon the medium sized stage. The Greek crowd looks happy and energetic judging by the sea of hands moving from side to side. You can listen to their shouting support during the breaks between the songs responding to Apollo's gestures and screams. The film direction is the basic with one camera per band member, and three (I think so) that cover different stage angles.
Surprisingly, one of the best moments of the live recording is the instrumental/guitar solo; the track sounds way heavy and totally bursts out in the guitar-keyboard solo break.
So, to wrap it up this is a well filmed DVD that captured the on and off stage activity that night in Thessaloniki. the concert clocks one hour and fourty minutes comprising all the band's hits from their discography.
I hope that in version that will hit the stores the DVD will feature English subtitles because I just hate it when I cannot understand what the band is talking about. The truth is that FIREWIND generally spoke English that night but there are still some Greek lines scattered. I cannot comment on the bonus material since the promo DVD contained only the concert.