Review by Brian McLean
For fans of Testament, the San Francisco based quintet, the re-release of the Seen Between the Lines DVD from Escapi Music has been a long time coming.
Originally released in VHS format in 1991, the live and behind the scenes documentary DVD features a live set performed by the classic Testament line up of Chuck Billy, Eric Peterson, Alex Skolnick, Greg Christian, and Louie Clemente when the band was touring for the Souls of Black release. The American dates of the tour had Testament supporting Slayer on their Seasons of the Abyss album.
The live portion of the DVD features classic Testament tunes such as “Eerie Inhabitants,” “Face the Sky,” “Greenhouse Effect,” and “Souls of Black” to name a few, but unfortunately it is not one continuous piece of concert film. There are breaks during the live portion featuring backstage antics, pre-show warm ups, band interviews, off stage footage, and normal daily activities of the band.
There is a positive to the additional off stage footage; it gives the viewer a look at Testament as normal individuals and not just the on stage metal machine the band has earned a reputation for.
The live concert and daily activities footage is accompanied by four promotional music videos for “Practice what you Preach,” “Souls of Black,” “The Legacy,” and “Nobody’s Fault," Testament’s cover of the classic Aerosmith song from their 1976 album Rocks.
As standard with DVD releases, there’s bonus material such as a band biography, discography, image gallery, and footage of Testament having dinner in Tokyo.
The product packaging is low key, no fancy booklet inserts, just a pull out poster folded into fourths for the artwork of the Souls of Black album.
While watching Seen Between the Lines, the viewer will be able to see the intense energy Testament played with and how the crowed fed off every ounce of it. It takes those watching back to the day when metal bands were fighting against the grunge grain and staying true to the metal.