Seven hours worth of the cult doom band, over nine performances, beginning with a rough, grainy/washed out, over modulated set at CBGBs in 1984. Even in an HD world, this resonance producing footage feels like you're watching someone else's TV, through yours. Hand held video and just learning the new technology, the picture bounces all over the place: in and out of focus, extreme close-ups and the condenser mics of the day were all wrong for live recording, as evident by the fuzzy, distant indiscernible vocals of Bobby Liebling. Compared to this, the recent Bedemon CD is a pristine, gold audiophile special. Panning back n forth across the trio at the front of the stage, the amateur camera operator knows the spasmodic gyrating, tongue flicking, frizzy hair and mustachio frontman is the focal point. The sound does get marginally better throughout the seven song, 28 minute set. Hey, I tried similar things back in the day, but some meager, age old post-production was attempted, inserting the name of each song on the screen, but utilizing the pause/recorded technique creates a bunch of lines across the screen, detracting from the live archive experience. Just a year later, we get a full 90 minute set by alter-ego/precursor Death Row and a 22-minute snippet from a Pentagram show. Audio and video quality have improved immensely from the earliest attempt, no mean feat given these are still just under lit club shows. Rather than from the front row, the Death Row set was filmed from the back of the venue and slightly elevated, allowing the camera to view the entire stage, focus tightly on one member. Dig the head of hair on Geisha make-up guitarist Victor Griffin! The titles are once again superimposed onscreen, at the start of each song, but the band apparently invested in a tripod, as there's no shake. Predominately dark, blue lights unless Liebling steps into the all seeing follow spot, the bug-eyed singer looking like a doppelganger for Spinal Tap's Derek Smalls. He offers little interaction with the crowd, as the stage goes black after each tune. Towards the end, "Dying World" and "20 Buck Spin" are incomplete, hastily edited (dying battery?). Interesting to see the stage look progression from year to year, as '85 has Bobby in colorful satin, while Griffin looks like an extra for early W.A.S.P.

From a purely technical point of view, don't like the "Play All" option being at the bottom of a long list of tracks. Won't most fans want to (at least initiallY0 watch them all? Jump ahead to '87 and the band/sound is more lively, right from the opening "Relentless/Broken Vows". Another front of stage, multiple duplication VHS converted to digital. Many of the songs are repeated on other shows, including "Day Of Reckoning" and show closing "Dying World". The non-sequential order of appearances sees Disc 1 end with a '96 gig in Washington DC's 9:30 club (40 minutes), while the second DVD opens with the first of three separate hour plus shows, this one from '93. Although later chronologically, the side of the stage/behind the band locale for "Live Free And Burn" opener is dominated by the proximity of the bass, a wall of fuzz drowning out everything else. Do get to see a handful of headbanging youngsters up front. Thankfully, after just one song, the cameraman (woman?) joins the punters (ultimately drifting into the crowd and further back, away from the stage), and as a result, the vocals and guitar return to the groove heavy mix. Some of the clearest visuals yet, especially Liebling's facial expressions (Ming The Merciless, from Flash Gordon). 17 years, in technology, is a quantum leap, but that's precisely the gap between the '93 Paragon show and a 2010 gig at The End. Welcome to the new millennium! In Nashville, the camera is shot over the heads of the crowd, from the back of the room and remains fairly stationary, able to see the width of the stage (and the two key particulars: Liebling & Griffin in a single frame). The sound remains muddy. In the 21st Century, the band seem to relish their role as doom godfathers, with many of the upbeat tunes (from earlier years) absent, apart from "Relentless" and encore residing"Sign Of The Wolf', both of which opt for more of a Danzig hue. Killer Victor Griffin guitar jam on the closing "When The Screams Come"! For some reason, the DVD box leaves "Forever My Queen" off the Norwegian setlist, a 2012 gig in the cramped basement of Oslo's Rockefeller music venue. A lone, mixing desk camera, shooting over the crowd, never moves, nor goes in for close-ups. However, between the heads and the low ceiling, the band only occupies about a third of the screen, making the entire 80 minute performance appear to be letter boxed. Easily the best/most consistent aural quality of the bunch.

In the brief liner notes, Griffin all but denounces the evil imagery/lyrics of the past, in light of new found faith. More importantly, he teases that this might just be the first such package. Hope so!