The live footage is edited together from a number of shows, with odd bits of tour footage spliced in between. Aside from the blackouts between each song, however, you’d hardly notice let up in the momentum. Shadowy figures stalk the stage, highlighted intermittently by the strobing lights, the three vocalists barking and shrieking over the Prodigy-gone-metal beats. It won’t appeal to everyone, but is one of the best live shows I’ve seen committed to DVD.

What’s more, the disc comes absolutely jam-packed with extras, pick of which are certainly three amazing videos. The newie, ‘Stars & Stripes’, drums in its political message by splicing black and white images of Bush and Hitler with old newsreel wartime footage. ‘Skurk’ and ‘Ultra’ offer much more interesting animations. The former, a third-person Quake-style computer game in which the character battles Bush, animated fast food and other symbols of American imperialism; the latter a story told in Lego figures!

This is all rounded off with brief interviews (that cover both band and tour crew), lyrics, tons of photos, a lengthy tour diary from Lucia (some reading, but probably more revealing about the tour than the interviews), meetings with fans, ‘making ofs’ (including studio footage) and even a band trip whale watching. Just about everything you could ever ask for on a DVD.

As ever, the extras won’t make compelling repeat-viewing, but they’re the icing on top of three great videos and over an hour of blistering live performance. A fantastic package that shows how music DVDs should be made.

(5/5)

Release Date: 20 September 2004

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KMFDM - WWIII Tour 2003