BANG YOUR HEAD!!! 2006

From the tremendous success of the first Bang Your Head festival back in 2005 that was held in Balingen, Germany, it was only common sense that the tradition would continue. In fact it has — same place, different time. The 2006 extravaganza would take place over a two day period, which did occur on June 22nd and 23rd and again would be captured on film. After going through miles and miles of tape, which definitely takes quite some time, the record company, producers, and all those involved finally finished the task and has captured the event on a 2-DVD set, which had a release date of November 6, 2007. There is over three hours of action to watch that is comprised of stage, backstage, and local club shows. There is also some stage and backstage gallery photos to go through.

This Heavy Metal festival of various talent varies from some famous and well-known bands to some more obscure ones. The bands chosen to perform vary from three to six members/musicians on stage at any one given time. There was a wide array of talent and style that was witnessed by all in attendance. Watching the video showed that the audience had a good time and enjoyed the music and themselves reminiscent of a mini- Woodstock festival.

Disc 1 contains 11 bands that played a total of 18 different songs live. The live performers/bands and song titles were as follows in order: Hellfueled – “Born To Rock,” “Midnight Lady,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll;” Communic – “Fooled By The Serpent;” Leatherwolf – “Season Of The Witch,” “The Calling;” Flotsam And Jetsam – “Escape From Within,” “Secret Square;” Vengeance – “No Mercy;” Raven – “Live At The Inferno,” “Rock Until You Drop;” Jon Oliva’s Pain – “Time To Die;” Death Angel – “Devil Incarnate;” Helloween – “Future World;” Foreigner – “Urgent,” “Hot Blooded;” In Flames – “Come Clarity,” “My Sweet Shadow.”

Disc 2 contains 9 bands that played a total of 16 different songs live. The live performers/bands and song titles were as follows in order: Powerwolf – “Lucifer In Starlight;” Anvil – “Winged Assassins,” “Forged In Fire,” “Metal On Metal;” Victory – “Chicks On Display;” Count Raven – “Leaving The Warzone,” “High On Infinity;” Unleashed – “Winterland,” “Into Glory Ride;” Armored Saint – “Tribal Dance,” “Seducer;” Y & T – “Midnight In Tokyo;” Rik Emmett – “Lay It On The Line,” “Head Case/3 Clouds,” “Magic Power;” Stratovarius – “Phoenix.”

The Clubshow footage Pt.1 & Pt. 2 corresponds to Discs 1 & 2, respectively. On Disc 1 the live performances were by the following bands: Abandoned – “Misanthrope;” Beyond Fear – “Words Of Wisdom;” Raven – “Mind Over Metal,” “Inquisitor.” On Disc 2 the live performances were by only one band: Tony Martin – “Lawmaker,” “Raven Ride,” “Scream,” and “Headless Cross.”

There is additional footage for those interested in the form of still photos in the Gallery sections taken On Stage and Backstage. Overall, there is quite an amount of live and still footage to view between both Discs. For true Metal fans, it is indeed an interesting collection of bands, music, and performances that will certainly entertain and make one feel as though you were there first hand to witness this historic event. If there is one fault or for a better term disappointment to this double DVD set, it is the fact that some bands only had one song make it into the final cut, whereas some others had up to three songs make it. Then there is one other thing… there were some other well-known bands on the bill that never even made it at all, one example being Whitesnake. You can be sure that Bang Your Head – 2007 can’t be far behind. Hopefully it will have a more even allotment of songs per band this time around and include all the famous bands that played.