Gamma Ray
Hell Yeah!!! (DVD)

May 2015
Released: 2008, SPV/Steamhammer
Rating: 5.0/5
Reviewer: JP

Back in of October of 2014 I wrote a review of the Gamma Ray album, MAJESTIC saying that in the past I had sort of ‘under-valued’ that album. I have rekindled my fondness for that album and accordingly I’ve decided to review the DVD that accompanied that tour cycle.



In 2008 the band released their third home video with the title that is both ludicrous and awersoem at the same time; HELL YEAH!!! THE AWESOME FOURSOME AND THE FINNISH KEYBOARDER WHO DIDN’T WANT TO WEAR HIS DONALD DUCK COSTUME. I think for the purposes of this review I’ll just refer to the DVD as HELL YEAH!!! and we hope that the band of the same name didn’t sue Gamma Ray.

HELL YEAH!!! was issued to commemorate the band first headlining North American tour. It is a monster package running just over four and half hours long, it’s pretty comprehensive and a great value! The double disc set is housed in a standard DVD case and has a cool cover and layout.



Disc 1 is a concert filmed in Montreal, Canada at The Medley on May 6th, 2006. In a nice little touch the menus interactive indicators are maple leafs, a symbol of Canada. The show runs for two hours and the 18 songs cover the bands entire career. The performances are tight and the band is on fire.



As much as I enjoy the concert, it is a standard, large club sized show with a few different camera angles. I felt Disc two, running two and half hours is where the real treasure is. Concerts are concerts but the behind the scenes stuff is where a fan can truly get an inside look at the band and the personalities of the members. However, I have read comments that are the exact opposite opinion of mine suggesting, who wants to see a band hanging around in an airport? Either way this DVD has something for everyone.



Disc Two has five or six different bonus features of varying lengths. I really enjoyed the acoustic show in Japan, it really demonstrated how good the songs are even when they are stripped down. The Road movie is 15 minutes long and just some fun clips of the guys goofing around, hanging out on the bus, shopping, doing tourist stuff and so on. It is nice to have all eight Gamma Ray Videos that were made up to that point, on one place as these are virtually never shown on TV. There are some live cuts from Wacken as well. Most importantly to me is the 47 minute documentary called 'Historay'. Some of the old footage is not great but it is a really cool look back at the band. I would have liked a more linear style with narration as the clips jump around and have no real rhyme or reason, but it is neat to see the footage of the band from around the world.



As cliche as it seems, this DVD is a must for all Gamma Ray fans and i'm sure most Power Metal fans i general will really enjoy this packed DVD. Hell yeah!!!