Now, straight off the bat, I've never been one to enjoy Heavy
Metal. I have nothing against it, but put bluntly - the fans scare the
bejesus out of me. Give me an Eskimo Joe, Oasis or Betchadupa gig anyday - but angry kids wearing black - I'll pass thankyou! However, after watching this documentary created by award winning duo director Dick Carruthers (who has worked with Led Zeppelin, The White Stripes, Rolling Stones)
and producer Jim Parsons (MTV) my appreciation for flannelet tee-shirt
wearing men with beards who yell has increased ten fold. While
it’s almost impossible to fully document the phenomenal
development and evolution of the heavy rock genre from it’s
earliest beginnings of Grand Funk Railroad and guitar distorting Jimmy Hendrix to Black Sabbath and the blues influenced Led Zeppelin in the '70s to Pearl Jam and Anthrax in the '90s all the way to the current scene today, all into a compact two hour feature documentary, Heavy Metal gives it a decent go. Essentially
just a collection of talking head interviews with some of the genre's
greatest, the film covers everything from the bands that helped build
the foundation on which heavy metal emerged from, to the eventual
creation of the "demonic" heavy metal (with the release of Black Sabbath’s
self titled debut in 1970), producers and their role in the studio, the
importance of performing live in front of an audience and most
importantly the relationship between bands and their fans (which Ronnie
James Dio summarises perfectly saying ‘Without them, we
aren’t. Without us, they will always be!’). At times
it can all get a bit to repetitive, there's essentially five people
regurgitating the same snippets of information and with a running time
of just under two hours, it's pretty easy to get distracted towards the
end if you aren't an avid lover of the genre. It's also almost comical
to hear some of these "Metal Stars" who perform and growl like they are
possessed on stage, talk with some of the highest pitched and
most harmless voices in showbiz. But all in all, it's good to know if
you love your music and appreciate it in all its guises. Surprisingly one of the most interesting parts of the doco, that of talk surrounding the murder of Pantera
guitarist Darrell 'Dimebag' Abbott by an obsessed fan, is delegated to
the closing credits. It's an amazing story which begins to suck you in,
but as the film ends! Ultimately, Heavy Metal: Louder Than Life
is a surprisingly fluffy piece on a genre which prides itself of being
decidedly non-fluffy. But, it does it's job and will no doubt have you
playing air guitar in the lounge half an hour after you've finished
watching it. DVD
Extras It's getting to a point in
which I look forward to and enjoy DVD extras more so than the actual
feature! There is some really good stuff here on this 2-Disc Special
Edition. There is an unedited interview on the world of metal as explained by Twisted Sister
front man Dee Snider. It is downright hilarious, as the man honestly
believes what he has to say is of any significant merit (his band had
two relatively big hits in the 80's, and is so deluded as to think he
is part of the metal genre - despite the fact Twisted Sister were a mediocre Glam as Glam, Glam Rock band). There's an audio commentary, a semi-Spinal Tap doco on mythical band Metal Skool, some
very cool Rock Anecdotes (many of which would have been welcome
inclusions in the feature) as well as a really interesting album
testimonials in which over 30 artists rate the greatest Metal albums
(the most influencial seeming to be Jimmy Hendrix's "Are You Experienced?"). Conclusion:
Movie 65% Extras: 65% 
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