Metal Minds Productions recording artists CORRUPTION have the distinction of being the first Stoner Rock band to release a full-length concert on Region 1 DVD. They beat out FU MANCHU, they beat out NEBULA—hell, even the legendary KYUSS never put out any live videos in their heyday. Anyway, CORRUPTION’s first full length concert, entitled HELLECTRIFY YOURSELF, is a major departure for Metal Minds Productions (MMP) who are primarily a Death Metal label. Looking to spread expand their roster beyond the cheesy death metal acts with the Cookie Monster vocals, MMP have recruited an actual band with talent, Polish heavy rockers CORRUPTION. The band consists of Fala on guitars, Aniol on bass, Melon on drums, Thrashu on guitars and Rufus on vocals. CORRUPTION: HELLECTRIFY YOURSELF was developed by MMP and released on DVD through Music Video Distributors (MVD).

CORRUPTION: HELLECTRIFY YOURSELF captures the group live at Studio Krzemion in Krakow, Poland. The concert was performed on January 2004, and the group was performing in front of a reserved (by metal standards) crowd of Stoner Rock enthusiasts young and old. Together Aniol, Rufus, Melon, Fala, and Thrashu, perform a razor-sharp set of their best and heaviest material from their 1993 ORGASMUSICA tour:

Blasting Foreskins
Flying Carpet
Junkie
Angel & the Beast
Revenge
Baby Satan
Never Get Old

Magic Power
Freaky Friday
Sleeper
In League With the Devil
Demon By My Side
Hate the Haters
Lubricant Rains
Wasted
Paranoid

CORRUPTION put on quite a jam session that will surprise many who have never seen them play live before. I’ve got a couple of their albums so I’m familiar with their music, but being from the U.S. I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing them live since European underground bands just don’t tour America (unless they play crappy death metal). But that’s the beauty of DVD is that it brings the world’s best cult acts to anyone all over the world who wants to discover what a certain band is all about. In the case of CORRUTION, its all about the energy, guitars, and creativity. You won’t find any flashy guitar solos here, but you will find the perfect crunchy guitar sound and thick bass that the genre requires. CORRUPTION is a bit heavier (and darker) than most Stoner Bands in terms of music, lyrics, and subject matter. You won’t confuse them with the laid back California skateboard stoners like FU MANCHU or NEBULA. Rather, CORRUPTION are a combination of an evil KYUSS and PENTAGRAM, although much of their "evil" image is delivered tongue-in-cheek. What they do deliver is some whirlwind compositions like DEMON BY MY SIDE, BLASTING FORESKINS, and REVENGE which will convert the heretics to their crushingly-heavy cause.

The CORRUPTION: HELLECTRIFY YOURSELF show was shot on real film using professional multi-camera set-ups which buzz around the performers on stage making for a truly memorable visual presentation. The kinetic camera work captures each song with eye-pleasing angles and tracking shots over the not only the bands, but the audience as well. The show is presented in 1.33.1 format; the image is very movie-like, with crisp clarity and image depth. CORRUPTION: HELLECTRIFY YOURSELF includes Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 audio options, both of which exhibit crystal clear fidelity and superior depth. Both soundtracks are distortion free with crystal clear fidelity. The guitars are wonderfully crunchy. There is however, one problem with the sound mixes—the bass is a bit thin on both tracks. Stoner Rock is known for its thick bass distortion, and anyone familiar with the genre knows what I’m referring to. Yet the soundtrack is weak as far as the low end is concerned. Other than this major shortcoming, Metal Mind Productions delivers a superb audio presentation.

From the Special Features menu, you can access a Photo Gallery, Discography, Website Links and typical band info material. There is also an informative interview with Aniol and Rufus who sheds a lot of light on the history and line-up of CORRUPTION. This interview is in Polish with English subtitles (the group’s song lyrics are sung in English, but Rufus doesn’t speak fluent English). There is also an additional video track for the song Revenge. This video track is billed as a promotional video on the packaging, but it is actually a live performance from Poland’s Prystanek Woodstock festival (and filmed with high quality equipment). There are also three more bonus performances In League With the Devil, Demon by My Side, and Hating Haters. These are poor quality audience perspective bootlegs, however. Oh no, but there is more! The disc also includes 4 audio only tracks:

Junkie
Die Young (not a cover song)
Never Too Old
Pole Neutron

CORRUPTION: HELLECTRIFY YOURSELF is a welcome addition to the underground form of music called Stoner Rock. Not many labels have got behind groups like CORRUTION, FU MANCHU, ORANGE GOBLIN, and others of the genre, so its certainly refreshing to see Metal Minds Productions giving this band the royal treatment. This disc is not only contains great performances from a great band, but also a host of extras including additional video and audio tracks. The only weak spot in the package is the low bass in both the Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 soundtracks.

 CORRUPTION: HELLECTRIFY YOURSELF is available from DVDEmpire.com