Below The Belt Review

Release Date: November 13, 2007
Vinnie Paul and his bandmates show us exactly how to party like a rock star in Below The Belt.

Sound:	8
Content:	8
Production:	8
Impression:	8
Overall rating:	8
Users rating:	6.2
Comments:	54

overall: 8

Featured review by: UG Team, on december 03, 2007

Sound: If you ever wondered what life on the road is like for a metal band these days, you’ll get an eyeful in Hellyeah’s first DVD Below The Belt. Going against the grain, the band focuses more on their daily activities than the actual performance aspect in the DVD. This may turn off some fans, but the most engaging parts come during the moments when the band does go a little crazy. It might get annoying with any other band, but the guys in Hellyeah do seem like they appreciate every aspect of their success.

For all of you who are missing Dimebag Darrell, the latest project from brother and ex-Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul definitely shows exactly how much of an influence the fallen guitarist has left on the band Hellyeah. There are plenty of scenes in the band’s first DVD Below The Belt that recall Dimebag, but it never feels like they are overdoing it. The focus absolutely is definitely upon Hellyeah, but there are constant reminders of the ties that remain with Paul. Whether he’s mentioning his brother’s name in passing or the band playing in a rehearsal space that belonged to Dimebag, it can become quite nostalgic at times.

Rather than just showing a full concert, Below The Belt documents the evolution of Hellyeah. We hear how the band met, see the musicians record their debut album and watch as Hellyeah sells out venues all over the world. You get everything in between as well, including lots of partying and nearly-naked women. There are plenty of testosterone-driven scenes in the DVD, whether the guys in Hellyeah are getting lap dances or simply drinking excessive amounts of alcohol. It’s a pretty honest, no-frills look at the band’s day-to-day life that. And it’s although exhausting to take in at times, it’s still a trip to watch.

Throughout Below The Belt you’ll hear clips of various songs from Hellyeah, and there are a couple of live performances that are featured. Although the concert scenes are few, you still get a pretty good idea of the band’s chemistry onstage. The band’s first gig in Baltimore is the main feature, and there are also some worthwhile concert scenes from a show in Australia. // 8

Content: The documentary is the main feature, which runs at almost 2 hours long. It’s a pretty lengthy film and never really gets dull. The entire road crew, from roadies to the tour manager to the camera operator, are given a good amount of screen time as well, and you’re likely to find those lesser-known characters just as entertaining. There are plenty of interviews with every member of the band, and it never feels just like the Vinnie Paul Show.

There are some extras, including 2 music videos (“Alcohaulin’ Ass” and “You Wouldn’t Know”) and assorted band interviews. It would have been great to get a few performances of their harder songs, but you do get glimpses of those during the documentary portion. // 8

Production Quality: A lot of Below The Belt is shot by one of the band’s crew, but it’s surprisingly very well done. Does it match the quality of some of the artsy concert DVDs out there? No, but the style matches the atmosphere in which the band exists on a daily basis. It’s not necessarily pretty, and seeing the DVD with that same sense of imperfection works pretty well. // 8

Impression: If there’s one thing you’re left with after watching Below The Belt, it’s that the guys in Hellyeah love what they do. Regardless of their backgrounds in Pantera, Mudvayne, or Nothingface, the musicians share a common love for music and performing that is conveyed perfectly. It will be hard to live up to their past bands and no can say if they’ll get to that point musically, but Hellyeah make it clear that they live and breathe to play metal. Even if you aren’t wild about the new music, there’s enough going on behind the scenes (including lots of ladies and booze) to make for a pretty interesting DVD. // 8

Comments

[kfong03]

woo hoo first!!

hellyeah will NEVER be what Pantera was

[W.h.o.r.EGuitar]

kfong03 wrote:

woo hoo first!!

hellyeah will NEVER be what Pantera was

Yeah seriously, Vinnies goin on, and HEllYEAH Sounds pretty killer, so stfu!

[joshua029]

W.h.o.r.EGuitar wrote:

kfong03 wrote:

woo hoo first!!

hellyeah will NEVER be what Pantera was


Yeah seriously, Vinnies goin on, and HEllYEAH Sounds pretty killer, so stfu!

+1...

[jonnyharris1]

Seriously guys, chill out, lifes too short.

[kud666]

kfong03 wrote:

woo hoo first!!

hellyeah will NEVER be what Pantera was

HELLYEAH AINT TRYING TO BE THE NEXT PANTERA THEIR NOTHING LIKE PANTERA, THEY ALWAYS SAID THIS WAS GOING TO BE FOR FUN, AND NOTHING MAJOR SERIOUS, SO TAKE IT AT WOT IT IS A COUPLE OF GREAT MUSICIANS HAVING A GOOD TIME

[kud666]

and making some kick as tunes

[kud666]

ass*

[ultimatumcs]

this is a fun band =]

[thirdeye_15]

alrite, well i dunno why all u are cuttin the 1st thread guy, all he was sayin is there not gunna meet up to Pantera BCUZ in the review (if u read it all) the reviewer said " It will be hard to live up to their past bands and no can say if they’ll get to that point musically, but Hellyeah make it clear that they live and breathe to play metal" so that dude was juss sayin yeah they aint gunna get to that point. and yea i agree, THERES NO WAY THAT HELL YEAH WILL EVEN TOUCH MUDVAYNE!!! but dont go cussin sum guy wen u dont even read the whole fukin review man . and chill the fuk out.

[thirdeye_15]

Kikuta im talkin to you...

[adamdrulz]

hey i have an idea for a dvd, see we only released one album, so instead of making a live dvd, lets just have some guy follow us around with a camera for a few months, and cause we automatically got famous from our other bands, people will give a shit about it.

[Kikuta]

thirdeye_15 wrote:alrite, well i dunno why all u are cuttin the 1st thread guy, all he was sayin is there not gunna meet up to Pantera BCUZ in the review (if u read it all) the reviewer said " It will be hard to live up to their past bands and no can say if they’ll get to that point musically, but Hellyeah make it clear that they live and breathe to play metal" so that dude was juss sayin yeah they aint gunna get to that point.

The point is right in front of you and you've completely missed it. Where does he say they're actually trying to succeed on a scale of their old bands at ANY point in the article?

Why the **** are you backing some invalid post-***** that just decided to rock up and claim his first comment crown, bag the band the review is based on completely ****ing ignorant to any aspect of the bloody band itself, and have absolutely no constructive criticism or reasoned arguing in his ****ing words?

[ShyGuy {IZAIAH}]

the album cover looks a lot like the Chocolate and Cheese cover by Ween o0

[areese82]

I love boobies

[CapnKickass]

areese82 wrote:

I love boobies

good job

[Shor-T Zero]

I gotta agree with Kikuta on this one. Hellyeah is another band, not related to any of their past/current projects. And I'm pretty sure they aren't trying to be multi-platinum artists with this. It's just them writing different music (at least for Chad Gray, since he loves Texas so much and what not) with different views, different people, etc. If they said they wanted to best Pantera, they would've said so. But no, they don't, and they hold reverance for how great Pantera was in the days. Never make a remark in public if you can't think out what you are going to say, thirdeye and kfung. Or better yet, to quote Ron White, "Next time you have a thought...let it go".

[Shor-T Zero]

oh, and to get back to the article, I dig Hellyeah's sound, and I might have to pick this up, since they have some funny antics.

[ParkerScks]

sweet... look forward to it

[EpiphoneXII]

these guys are defintley a good band to listen to when with a bunch of people. im looking forward to picking up this DVD

[giginthesky]

I thought it was a pretty good record, on it's OWN MERIT, nothing to do with Pantera & nothing to do with Mudvayne. Just a good record. Good rock & roll, metal, whatever you want to call it.

[stone_gossard]

Hellyeah sucks. I mean, "Alcahaulin' ass"? What the hell was that? "Oh, let's make a country song, altough most of us dumbasses never were country in Madvayne, and make it about how drunk we always are, because we're cool". Like said above me, it's a poor excuse for a metal supergroup.
You guys keep with your country-nu-trash-metal stupidity. I'm listening to Down.

PS: And oh, 1 DVD after one (crappy) album? These guys can't get enough of their fame, now can they?

[Caboose1125]

anty wrote:

how any of you guys can take this band seriously in any aspect are ****ing weirdos. Alcohaulin ass, jesus christ theres party music and spastics attempting music. This is the most bland generic piece of crap I have ever heard. I expected alot more, they are worse than damageplan

I disagree completely. Yea there's a lot of party music out there but thats not what Hellyeah's trying to be. They just want to go, have fun and make good music.

I love this album, I think they did a great job.

[Caboose1125]

*DVD not album... I like the album too tho.

[KnifelineAttack]

kfong03 wrote:

woo hoo first!!

hellyeah will NEVER be what Pantera was

There will never be another Pantera. This is an extremely ignorant comment. Vinnie Paul is an individual, and he has the right to move on and reinvent himself with a completely different band. I personally, being a fan of metal, do not think HellYeah and Pantera sound alike at all. I actually don't care for HellYeah.

Either, that was a really stupid comment.

[Bootsy 4 Prez]

Bought the dvd thinking it was a concert dvd. Turned out to be really sweet even though theres not a whole lot of actual performance but to get to know them and see them tour was pretty sweet. And to the first guy ummm no shit there not trying to be pantera no one is. They are trying to be Hellyeah and they are doing good as far as i care.

[Butsku]

That guy in the picture (on the frontpage) looks exceptionally stupid!

[showtheway]

this rockstar excess bullshit is SO OLD! grow the **** up you're grown men. music keeps following the same old BORING steps.

[Teufel]

Hell Yeah = kick ass metal.

[[x]Huffy[x]]

Kikuta wrote:

kfong03 wrote:

woo hoo first!!

hellyeah will NEVER be what Pantera was


What a ****ing useless comment. Go and shoot yourself you mongrel. Hellyeah isn't TRYING to be the next Pantera, they're their own band! Bloody ****ing hell, you do realise that another disgrace to humanity as ****ing stupid as you said the same thing as his excuse for killing Dime?

Wow. Read up kid, Dime's shooter was shot dead at the scene. He never gave an excuse.

[slayerfan_87]

Hmm maybe I should give HELLYEAH a chance I mean Vinnie Paul one of my all time favorite drummers are in it their worth a listen in my opinion

[jonah1]

adamdrulz wrote:

hey i have an idea for a dvd, see we only released one album, so instead of making a live dvd, lets just have some guy follow us around with a camera for a few months, and cause we automatically got famous from our other bands, people will give a shit about it.

I love it how everyone just ignored you.

[METALHEAD 91zb]

I'm glad Vinnie is still making music and not sitting around doing nothing with all his money. And to all you comparing Hellyeah to Pantera, you are morons. There will never be another Pantera. There's a vital part missing: Dime.

[Filip413]

Despite the fact that it may lack live footage and focuses more on the life of Hellyeah rather that the musical aspects of them, its still a great DVD. It gives you an insight into their life as a supergroup and how they get along and shit. Anybody who considers themselves a fan of any of the band members should watch it, i really enjoyed it

[Rizzo!]

thread needs to be checked stat!

[ready2breakdown]

I would check out the dvd. It's kinda cool, but it's pretty lame at the same time. That's the EXACT same thing that Pantera with their DVD and Dimevision was pretty much the same thing as well. I mean it can be great footage and all, but to continually follow the same patterns is sorta lame...

[garrett5]

Never heard them, but Hellyeah is a terrible band name,

[Dithindious]

Hellyeh are jus allround good fun. They take the fun aspects of life in majorly succesful metal bands and try to open it up to the outside world. I know I'll be buyin this if it comes over to the UK! There not meant to be as serious as Pantera or Mudvayne but then again the only thing that they have in common is that they want to have a good time and I say that there fun is well deserved after inspiring new generations of metal fans and guitarist from there previous bands.
RIP Dime

[Shredder Guitar]

thats possibly the best DVD cover i have ever seen.

Go BOOBS!

HellYeah are pretty awesome.

[mjp_88]

My goodness. What a bunch of retards you all are. I like Hellyeah because i'm Nothingface fan (together or not, you guys are INSANE! btw). But what does it matter? Listen to the ****ing music. If you like it, like it for its individual merrit. If you don't like why are you even posting comments in this space? Simple... Now could we get over the "who's better than Pantera" bs? Please? Go Hellyeah for being as straight up as a stiff shot of whiskey ....ps, i don't think i guy called "garrett5" can comment on bad names. BURN! :P

[GA7X]

kfong03 wrote:

woo hoo first!!

hellyeah will NEVER be what Pantera was

DUDE WTF? They're not trying to be pantera...LMAO!

Pantera WAS and IS unique.

They are just trying to make some freaking awesome music.

[ozzybob]

i think we all get the point that hellyeah is not trying to be pantera and that they are just having fun

[ozzybob]

not to bash you guys or anything, but ive seen like 15 post that all say the same thing lol

[Kikuta]

[x]Huffy[x] wrote:
Wow. Read up kid, Dime's shooter was shot dead at the scene. He never gave an excuse.

Oh I'm sorry, that must mean he didn't say a single word during his rampage. My mistake.

[ibanez_artcore]

areese82 wrote:

I love boobies

What a coincidence, i like boobies too!!!

[The_Man_IV]

kfong03 wrote:

woo hoo first!!

hellyeah will NEVER be what Pantera was

...Forever Stronger Then All... -Pantera

nuff said.

[Shywalk329]

P.S. Boobies are phun

[brentondig]

Besides, the first four Pantera albums, the ones they discontinued were the best anyway.
(Stirring up poop, you know?)

[TheNERD250]

W.h.o.r.EGuitar wrote:

kfong03 wrote:

woo hoo first!!

hellyeah will NEVER be what Pantera was


Yeah seriously, Vinnies goin on, and HEllYEAH Sounds pretty killer, so stfu!

no they don't. they are terrible. Sounds a lot like pantera's later stuff....

[noahray]

hellyeah sounds pretty awful to me, i don't know anyone else who has even heard of them. pretty vain of them to come out with a dvd so soon...

[noahray]

not to mention their myspace is riddled with more ads than all other touring bands in the US combined

[Pyro_TheVampire]

Wow. Read up kid, Dime's shooter was shot dead at the scene. He never gave an excuse.

Actually, it is speculated that his motive was that he thought pantera were stealing their songs out of his head.

That is one theory however. I'm not too sure that is 100% right as it might be tabloid rubbish.

[xCoilx]

you guys bitch too much.

[Unherolike]

What happened to Metal we used to be a giant familly what happened here it used to be if you disliked something then shut your mouth or don't listen to it. So if you an'it got a real complaint like it was to soft or the arangement of this song or that song is off a little don't just be ignorant about Sh*t and say it totaly sucked give us a reason to belive you about it then Shut the F**K Up. Pantera was great we all know even if Anselmos a PUNK A$$ Bi*ch.Hey he left he was the drug addict he chose not to make You Pantera super fans unhappy don't go dismantaling a completely different band because of your content.

[Unherolike]

Unherolike wrote:

What happened to Metal we used to be a giant familly what happened here it used to be if you disliked something then shut your mouth or don't listen to it. So if you an'it got a real complaint like it was to soft or the arangement of this song or that song is off a little don't just be ignorant about Sh*t and say it totaly sucked give us a reason to belive you about it then Shut the F**K Up. Pantera was great we all know even if Anselmos a PUNK A$$ Bi*ch.Hey he left he was the drug addict he chose not to make You Pantera super fans happy don't go dismantaling a completely different band because of your content.