Autopsy – Dark Crusades
Peaceville Records DVDVile5 2006
By Katalin Sipos
When Chris Reifert left
Death in 1987 (after the release of
Scream Bloody Gore), he moved to San Francisco and shorty afterwards
Autopsy was formed. After releasing two demos they signed to Peaceville Records, and their first full-length work,
Severed Survival, hit the streets in 1990. Successful tours in the States and Europe, and three more albums paved a career that ended in the mid-’90s. But I’m sure if you are a death metal fan, you already know
Autopsy; you may not like them, but you must know them and be familiar with their music. So, let’s talk about the DVD. My expectations might have been too high, so I am disappointed with it… Although it will be a valuable piece in any death metal fan’s collection.
The concept behind the DVD is admirable; to preserve the old and rare recordings of
Autopsy. It contains a 24 minute rehearsal from 1988, 40 minute (1993), 13 minute (1993) and 34 minute (1994) live performances, tour footage and some more extra stuff. These are really rare moments from the life of a legendary band but in a terrible quality. Yes, I know they are amateur recordings (picture- and sound-wise as well), and they probably never thought this material would end up on a DVD. But actually watching such an ancient-home-video-style DVD is a pain. The release of
Dark Crusades was postponed several times due to technical reasons, and regarding its quality I wonder what the problem was …. Of course it is still a great compilation since I have never had the chance to see them live.
As always, I really enjoyed the extras section as well. Tour footage is always fun, and it is good to see how the band get along on the road, following their highs and lows. The live video of the
Terrorizer cover
’Corporation Pull-In’ from 1990, where members of
Autopsy,
Pestilence and
Bolt Thrower performed together is also truly remarkable. The funny moments of cake-throwing before playing
’Witches’, and seeing the band having childish fun made me smile, but I was also green from envy as I could have never seen them myself.
So I just want to warn you, if you are not a fan, you will be pissed off by this DVD. And even if you are a fan, you will watch it once, you will keep liking the band, but you will hardly want to watch it again and again. And that’s where this (or any such) DVD fails.
DVD 1
Rehearsel, 1988
1. Ridden With Disease
2. Human Genocide
3. Critical Madness
4. Embalmed
5. Trouble Jam
6. Gasping For Air
7. Stillborn
Hong Kong Cafe, 1993
1. Your Rotting Face
2. Dark Crusade
3. Fiend For Blood
4. Spinal Extractions
5. Twisted Mass of Burnt Decay
6. Slaughterday
7. Fleshcrawl/Torn from the Womb
8. Deathtwitch
9. Shit Eater
10. Gasping For Air
11. An End to the Misery
12. Charred Remains
13. Severed Survival
14. Voices
15. Dead
DVD 2
The Stone, 1993
1. Shit Eater
2. Pus/Rot
3. An End to the Misery
4. Dead
5. Voices
Ruthless Inn, 1994
1. Dark Crusade
2. Slaughterday
3. Fiend for Blood
4. Spinal Extractions
5. Deathtwitch
6. Twisted Mass of Burnt Decay
7. Pus/Rot
8. Charred Remains
9. Severed Survival
10. Dead
Extras
1. Tour Footage
2. Corporation Pull-In
3. Witches
8/10
Official Autopsy
Official Peaceville Records website
