While some bands in the metal genre (i.e. PANTERA, MANOWAR) choose to celebrate the excesses of the wild side of rock ‘n roll lifestyle on their DVDs, THE HAUNTED have chosen to give their fans a more sobering and perhaps more well-rounded look into the touring life of an underground metal band.

The centerpiece of Road Kill is a 65-minute documentary about life on the road, warts and all. The documentary is broken up into different topics/aspects of touring, such as “Hygiene” and “Partying,” with interviews with all of the band’s members, past and present, and their crew and fellow tourmates throughout the years. In a way, it’s a nice history of the band starting from the time that former vocalist Marco Aro quit and original vocalist Peter Dolving rejoined the band. The documentary gives a painfully accurate and thorough education of the trials and tribulations of road life. It’ll leave a different impression on the viewer depending on the viewer’s personal knowledge about this unglamorous side of rock ‘n roll.

The remainder of the DVD is comprised of a 2009 live show in Amsterdam, and THE HAUNTED’s last six music videos. The show is tastefully captured with a dash of subtle style in the form of its sepia color tones, and intimate camera views. The crowd is kept dark while the performance of the band is the sole subject. Road Kill also comes with a CD which is the audio companion of the Amsterdam show along with a few extra songs from the show. And yes, bass is nice and audible. Lastly, five unreleased studio tracks are included. While these aforementioned tracks won’t blast your face off, they are pretty cool and are essential additions to any HAUNTED fans’ collections.

Even though Road Kill intentionally omits the pomp and circumstance of other depictions of the touring life, it’s just as honest and down to earth as THE HAUNTED. (Century Media Records)