Already a fairly major act in Europe, the Netherlands’ answer to Lacuna Coil and Evanescence look set to spread their appeal wider with this year’s The Silent Force. As anyone who got the bonus DVD with that album will tell you, they’re as visually impressive as they are aurally, and so now we get a full DVD chronicle of the band’s live shows – over two hours of concert footage on the first disc, and making of features and interviews on the second.

The main feature is the band’s open-air performance in front of 10,000 fans on Java Island, Amsterdam. While Sharon Den Adel’s stage act – which does largely consist of waving her right arm in the air, bouncing up and down or weird swirly side-to-side dance moves – does grow a bit repetitive, her voice is simply angelic. What’s more, the band put on quite a spectacle, with Sharon’s costume changes, pyrotechnics, drumming monks, confetti and even a gilded cage.

As if one huge concert isn’t enough, there are three more live clips from two other shows, in Finland and Belgium (though the sound quality of the latter is a bit poor), and promo videos for hit singles ‘Stand My Ground’, ‘Angels’ and ‘Memories’ – which, as good as they are, are sadly a little tired by the third time you’ve heard them…

These quibbles aside, it’s an impressive collection, worth it for the captivating live show alone. That’s not all though, there’s also the obligatory bonus disc, with interviews, backstage footage on tour with Paradise Lost and Iron Maiden in Europe, and general goofing around. The number of private ‘in jokes’ and the switching of languages are a bit annoying, but the band aren’t afraid to look stupid on camera – special credit goes to Sharon’s duck impression, which makes the ‘bloopers’ section worth watching on its own.

Perhaps the wealth of extra material highlights a few minor shortcomings in the main feature – in particular, there are a few indoor live clips, which I’d like to have seen more of on disc one, as the band performing with their own lights and props seem a totally different prospect to at an outdoor festival-type stage. Nonetheless, over the two discs there’s pretty much everything a fan could want accompanying the band’s recent album and tour.

(4/5)

Release Date: 12 December 2005

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The Silent Force Tour

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