Burning Circle / Downstroy / Concrete Sun - Invasion From The East - Live In Novi Sad [DVD]

This is a live compilation covering 10 different Serbian metal bands that performed at Invasion from the East Festival, in Novi Sad, Serbia, on 29th and 30th of March 2013. It was the first in a series of festivals organized by Miner Records (Swiss/Serbian indie label). In over 2 hours we can hear and see the following bands: 'War Engine' opened the show playing old school thrash in vein or early Slayer (too bad they are featured with only one song on this DVD), followed by female fronted atmospheric black metal band 'Sakramentum'. Their sound is dominated by orchestral keyboard parts and scream/growl/clean vocals exchange followed by double bass patterns, middle tempo blast beats and black metal riffs. Stoner/sludge metallers - 'Concrete Sun' follow with their cool attitude, solid performance and rich sound. One can place their music anywhere between Black Sabbath and Alice in Chains; vocals are a broad mix of Layne Staley and James Hetfield, great performance by the guys. Fourth on the bill are Obscured - atmospheric black death, female operatic back vocals, growls, screams, blast beats, everything you need for your daily dose of worship. Tight performance and a frontman wearing the full metal jacket (pun intended). Worth a buy for Obscured performance alone!!! Then come 'Putrid Blood' - playing their mix of uncompromising thrash metal/hard core. They remind me of old S.O.D. Pure energy blast!!! 'Twisted Tales' come next with a couple of Possessed-like mid tempo thrash songs from their album 'We Shall Be Heard' followed by symphonic black metal band - 'Khargash' - who intend to become Serbian Emperor presenting their album - 'Pathway Through illumination'. Serbian Tankard - 'MAD & Goya', a band playing for more than two decades perform their set of well known beer anthems leading to atmosphere overheat and metal meltdown. Burning Circle change the course of this video into more melodic and proggy waters performing songs from their debut record - 'Ruins of Mankind' incorporating the various subgenre parts into their own sound thus showing the audience that progressive and power metal are also played in Serbia. Save the best for the last - come Downstroy, although musically not my cup of tea, these guys show the world how serious metalcore should sound. Great performance, tight and heavy and powerful as hell!!!
All in all this is a good DVD (and CD) and a great collector's item, having in mind the limited budget of this indie label and its struggle to bring the best from the metal scene in Serbia and pull it from the underground to a higher and more serious level. This video is a good overview what Serbian metal scene has got to offer these days, but most of all it is evidence that metal in Serbia is reborn and rising.