Southern rockers Corrosion of Conformity aren't exactly well known in this country, however they have had a long history on the hardcore scene. Their history goes back as far as 1982 when they began touring and supporting bands such as the Dead Kennedys. The then hardcore outfit released their first album Eye for an Eye in 1983, and despite their ever evolving style, have had a solid following ever since.

They have hopped between record labels and singers several times, but it was on 1996's Wiseblood that the band finally found their groove, so to speak. In stark contrast to their beginnings in hardcore/thrash, they had cooked up a Southern-style of rock that puts them now closer to stoner rock/groove bands like Monster Magnet, with a distinct essence of Black Sabbath thrown in for good measure.

Live Volume basically came about as the band felt it was high time to record a live album, and even though they are Southerners, it was apparently in Detroit that the band had its favourite crowd.

From start to finish, Live Volume is a very energetic experience. The band's patented heavy grooves transfer beautifully into a live situation, and anyone interested in hard rock would do well to check this performance out.

The transfer is full frame NTSC, and while it's not exceptional quality, it generally does the job just fine. The performance also switches framing throughout due to various vision switching techniques. Some nifty little effects have also been used in an effort to spice up the visual nature of the performance, but they're used too often and kind of cheapen the whole thing.

Primarily the transfer suffers from resolution problems and a lack of shadow detail above all. Due to the complex lighting procedures of a stage performance such as this, these problems tend to come and go fairly frequently.

Some minor aliasing problems are noticeable on occasion, and the background detail is pretty much non-existent. Apart from these problems, the video here is entirely satisfactory. At least it should be good enough for fans of the band and anyone else interested.

Overall, the audio transfer provided here is satisfying. At times things can get a little muddy, but there's a generally good level of separation throughout for the 5.1 track. The surrounds are used to minor effect with crowd ambience and a small amount of the music, but their inclusion definitely makes for a 'fuller' live sound.

Filling out the mix, the subwoofer is used quite heavily for the lower end of the band's sound - which is something they have a lot of, incidentally. The stereo track provided here is generally problem free, but is nowhere near as effective as the 5.1 mix. At any rate, the soundtrack in general does the band's mammoth live sound a good level of justice.

There are only a couple of little extras on offer here. It might be a little bit of a disappointment for fans of the band, but better a little somethin' than a lot of nuthin' I say.

The Bonus Footage features small interviews with all of the band members along with film of them on the road, rehearsing and being interviewed by a local radio station. If you wanted to know a little more about the band's history, then this works quite well as a crash course.

The Photo Gallery is a collection of mostly live images taken from other gigs. There's nothing really of great interest contained within... unless you find them particularly attractive of course.

Standard Web Links are also tacked on that will take you to the band's website and the Sanctuary Records homepage.

The program also begins with a Trailer advertising Corrosion of Conformity's latest album, America's Volume Dealer and the companion live CD to this DVD, Live Volume.

It doesn't mention it on the cover, but the concert is intercut at several points with some Documentary footage of the band. So that's a kind of extra too I guess.

Any self-respecting hardcore/stoner rock fan should already know about Corrosion of Conformity, so it goes without saying that this should be a necessity. Anyone else who thinks they might have a taste for heavy Sabbath-like grooves should also check this out, as Live Volume is thoroughly heavy and utterly groovy.