Various Artists: All For Metal V (AFM)

They may seem like throwbacks in the age of the embedded video clip right in your social media feed, but DVD compilations were one of the better ideas to emerge in the post-VHS, post-MTV era. The affordable collections let you discover a whole host of new (or new to you) bands, and hey, it’s always fun to see what kind of videos bands come up with. Or you could play a drinking game and take a drink for every “band playing in a warehouse” video you see. Of course you’d die of alcohol poisoning that way.

ANYWAY, the German AFM label took the DVD compilation idea and perfected it with their All For Metal series. The series featured a DVD loaded with music videos from their very diverse roster of artists, both well-known and underground acts, and they also included an audio CD (of entirely different bands and songs) so you can experience even more new music. All For Metal V is the latest installment in the series, covering about 2-3 years’ worth of AFM releases. This is what it contains:

Videos
1. Orden Ogan: Gunman
2. Gus G.: Letting Go
3. Leaves Eyes: Sign of the Dragonhead
4. Evergrey: King of Errors
5. Serious Black: Serious Black Magic
6. Danko Jones: My Little Ana
7. Dead City Ruins: Bones
8. Voodoo Circle: Higher Love
9. Herman Frank: Ballhog Zone
10. Nocturnal Rites: Repent My Sins
11. Brainstorm: The World To See
12. Flotsam and Jetsam: Life Is a Mess
13. Kryptos: Full Throttle
14. Manimal: Irresistible
15. Thunderstone: The Path
16. Communic: The Magnetic Center
17. Crystal Viper: The Witch Is Back
18. Bloodbound: Battle in the Sky
19. Sinner: Tequila Suicide
20. Elvenking: Invoking the Woodland Spirit
21. Kissin’ Dynamite: Hashtag Your Life
22. J.B.O: Alles Nur Gehlaut
23. Bonfire: Stand or Fall
24. Shakra: Cassandra’s Curse
25. Nightmare: Ikarus
26. Pyogenesis: I Have Seen My Soul
27. Asenblut: Berserkerzorn
28. Ektomorf: The Prophet of Doom
29. Emil Bulls: Kill Your Demons
30. Armored Dawn: Bloodstone
31. Stahlmann: Nichts Spricht Wahre Liebe Frei
32. Letze Instanz: Morgenland

Music
1. Rhapsody of Fire: Dawn of Victory
2. Lordi: Your Tongue’s Got the Cat
3. Ross the Boss: By Blood Sworn
4. Danzig: Last Ride
5. The New Black: Dead in the Waters
6. Ethernity: Artificial Souls
7. Borealis: Sign of No Return
8. Masterplan: The Chance
9. Iron Savior: Battering Ram (2017)
10. Triosphere: Steal Away the Light
11. Oz: Heart of a Beast
12. Burning Point: Master Them All
13. Gothminister: Der Fliegende Mann
14. Mors Principium Est: Reclaim the Sun
15. We Butter the Bread With Butter: Klicks, Likes, Fame, Geil

That’s 47 songs in either video or audio format, and even if you don’t like them all (some of those German bands are kind of out there), chances are you’ll find something to love. I suppose you could look these up on YouTube and Spotify, but there’s something aesthetically more appealing about holding this set, watching the DVD and checking the liners to see who the band is and what album the song is from, and just experiencing a curated playlist like this.