It's a generous 20-track package of superior female-fronted Gothic Metal. "Ravenheart" is Xandria's most well known song and rightly so. There's something about the Celtic-inspired imagery that inspires me to do something heroic. Sadly about the most gallant thing I can do in the office is making everyone a round of tea. The sweeping symphony of the song would be enough to carry me away, even without the killer last line that finds time to quote Poe: 'Will I get back who I adore? Thus spoke the raven: nevermore.' I tell you, it sends a chill up my spine every time. Another song that shows the band's way with words is "In Love With The Darkness" which contains the confession: 'I'm in love with the darkness of the night … And the darkness loves me, too.'

"Eversleeping" shows that the band can be just as effective when they turn down the volume. This song demands a tissue and a box of chocolates from the listener. You might need a hug afterwards but often you feel better for having a good cry. The mythic imagery cuts me to the heart every time: 'Once I crossed seven rivers to find my love/And once, for seven years, I forgot my name'. It all ends tragically, but Xandria can recognise the beauty in sadness. Other highlights include the Best-Bond-Theme-Never-To-Actually-Be-In-A-Bond-Movie Some Like It Cold. I'm not normally a huge fan of folk-flavoured Gothic Metal, but "Sisters Of The Night" makes me want to get up and dance around the room.

So if you haven't heard Xandria before then this CD will bring you right up to date. As they only made four albums you've got half their material here. What really drew me to this collection was the DVD portion, which is named – perhaps optimistically - History And Future Of Xandria. The interviews are conducted in German, which gives non-German speaking fans a chance to practise their languages. Don't worry if the extent of your German is 'Wo Ist Meine Luftkissenboot?' There are subtitles. I only saw Xandria live once, in Camden's Underworld so it's interesting to see the band play to a festival sized audience. We have eight songs from 2007's Summer Breeze Show. Daylight rarely serves a band visually; at least as viewers of the DVD we get some arty black and white shots. Many of the shots that aren't actually in black and white look monochrome as the stage, the clothes and the instruments are black. The white in the logo and the grey sky provides contrast but not a wider palette of colour. The DVD alternates between interviews and live performances. The story of how the band got together is mostly mundane, though it is interesting to learn that before Lisa joined Xandria she was a dancer for another band. As the guitarist and songwriter Marco notes: 'She did a pretty hot show'. If only that footage had been included in this DVD.

The brief squalls of feedback during "Firestorm" are just one of the ways you can tell the audio is raw live recording. There is studio session footage. It's interesting to learn that when the band started it was the plan to have the vocals split between Lisa and Marco along the 'mean man/sweet woman' line that is traditional in this genre. Yet, as Lisa says: 'Sometime in the studio we noticed, that it rocked when I sang the male parts for fun.' The video to "Eversleeping" is pure Mills & Boon romance. Inevitably the images that I created in my mind while listening to this song cannot be matched by those on the screen. Having said that Lisa does look fetching as she explores a deserted house, haunted by a lost love. The band rehearses in the ballroom at night so how anyone gets any sleep is a mystery. Maybe that's why the house is deserted. The live rendition of "Snow White" shows that Lisa doesn't need a 'mean man' to provide hellish growls. There's something profoundly disturbing about seeing someone who looks so fair making a noise that sounds so foul. In a good way.

"Ravenheart" does match up to my imaginings. It manages to be simultaneously silly and serious, evoking a very real emotional response in the listener. In case you haven't seen the video it stars Lisa dressed as Little Red Riding Hood on a canoeing holiday in Wales. It seems that the band's usual rehearsal room was double-booked so they are rehearsing outside a castle. It looks like it's going to rain – well we are in the Welsh mountains – a downpour could prove fatal to the band. I hope they will be OK. Oh no, there's a Ring Wraith. Finding a feather in her boat, Lisa disembarks, making he way to the castle. Maybe there will be a nice tea shop where she can sit down and have a scone. But look out Lisa, the Ring Wraith is after you! And who are those monks? I tell you I haven't been this excited since I watched Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. Now inside the castle Lisa climbs the steps, all I want is a cup of tea and a bun, she thinks. Suddenly it is night time and she is surrounded by cowled monks who are carrying flaming torches. It turns out the dark rider isn't a Ring Wraith as it holds a flaming torch aloft. I haven't seen such an exciting rescue as this since The Mission's "Tower Of Strength" video. As the monks flee there can be only one question on our lips, who is this mysterious masked figure ... why, it turns out to be Lisa! Of course this doesn't really make any sense in any strictly traditional meaning of the word, but I guess they couldn't afford Kevin Costner. Or Wayne Hussey.

As the interviews come to a close, it's hard not to read extra meanings into Lisa's final words. With the benefit of hindsight we can see that the end was nigh. Thus spoke the singer: nevermore.