Lair Of The Minotaur - 'War Metal Battle Master' DVD

Gore, nudity and in-your-face bootlegs. Cannibal Corpse would be proud.

Conan the Barbarian meets Cannibal Holocaust and Make Them Die Slowly as Lair of the Minotaur presents a brutal depiction of Ares' battle near Hades to the tune of their title track from their current album War Metal Battle Master.

Lair of the Minotaur pounds out their nasty cut in a desert setting while Ares wrecks havoc with squirty beheadings. Meanwhile, a pair of cannibal harpies drags Ares' slain foes into the proverbial Hades to gorge on their innards. At first clothed, these fanged scags end up naked and covered in blood while they gnaw on their victims in bloodthirsty fashion.

“War Metal Battle Master” intentionally honors the splatter-filled mayhem of seventies and eighties overseas horror ala Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci and Ruggero Deodato, particularly the latter’s notorious Cannibal Holocaust. Not for the faint of heart but definitely for lovers of insane gore romps, "War Metal Battle Master" is a complete riot from start-to-finish.

Added to the DVD are behind-the-scenes footage and a large helping of raw live videos of songs from their first two albums, Carnage and Ultimate Destroyer. The first video for "Horde of Undead Vengeance" is splashed in a red tint similar to Kreator’s black-and-white residue scorching in their "Toxic Trace" video. The effect is appropriately demonic as Steven Rathbone’s bobbing dome and growling vocals rage throughout the cut, as he does in all of the videos shot in various locations from Indianapolis to Chicago to France and Austria.

At times the sound of these cuts is lax, but that’s what you get from bootlegs. It’s the powerful energy Lair of the Minotaur expounds on a cut like "Juggernaut of Metal" that resonates in the live performances. All-in-all, a lot of meat, skin trade and booming metal for your hard-earned buck.