V/A – Gigantour / 2006 Image / 19 Tracks / http://www.image-entertainment.com / http://www.gigantour.com / Reviewed 18 December 2006

Gigantour had a tremendous effect on the outdoor massive-concert scene in 2005, and this two-CD set shows exactly how much of an influence this concert has, by capturing tracks from all of the bands that were on the tour. The concert was first created by Megadeth’s lead Dave Mustaine, and tried to stake a more straight-metal alternative to the increasingly nu and rap-metal style of Ozzfest. A few of the bands will be immediately known by even the most casual listener to metal, including progressive-fanboy loving Dream Theater, alongside of Anthrax, one-hit wonder (in the popular music scene) Life of Agony, Megadeth, Nevermore, and Fear Factory.

Each of these acts have been around for at least a decade, so Mustaine deemed it necessary to “give the rub” to bands that were more up and coming. This included Bobaflex, who just released an album in the last year, and Symphony X, who has been around since 1994 but had not enjoyed the popular success of an act like Dream Theater. Finally, Dry Kill Logic is given a few tracks on this disc. This act was another that has been grinding along for a considerable period of time (starting out in 1993 as Hinge, and then Hinge A.D. after a lawsuit), but has not really had much in the way of popular success. The resulting two-CD set thus captures some of the biggest hits and bands that metal has ever known (“Caught in a Mosh” by Anthrax and “Archetype” by Fear Factory), along with tracks that are solid but just not known well (“Lost” by Dry Kill Logic and “Inferno” by Symphony X).

What would be interesting to hear is if a yearly Gigantour tour double-duisc came out, or (what would be even better) a double disc featuring all of the up and coming metal bands, as was done with the “Identity” discs released by Century Media in the late nineties and the Metal Massacre discs put out by Metal Blade. Still, there are 19 solid cuts on this disc, and while individuals may have some of the Megadeth and Anthrax tracks already on the CD, the other tracks on “Gigantor” are more than solid enough to carry the disc on their own. Buy this album, and go see Gigantour if it ends up making its way around America for 2007 dates. One of the more solid metal compilations currently on the market.

Top Tracks: Dream Theater – Panic Attack, Bobaflex – Medicine

Rating: 6.8/10

[JMcQ]