Metal music is a genre that requires a lot of getting used to. But then, when highlighted in the context of a film or a live performance, people actually find it more entertaining and appealing. Fresh from our Dream Widow album review as performed and recorded by Dave Grohl, we were delighted last Friday to know that Metal Lords is already up for viewing on Netflix. The perfect film to end the week in our book.
A Friendship Forged in Metal
In a nutshell, Metal Lords is about a pair of teens who are experiencing a mid-teen crisis with heavy metal as their main field of interest. A dyed-in-the-wool metal fan, Hunter (Adrian Greensmith) is a rebellious, angry yet very talented guitarist who aims to “make it” one day by endlessly emulating his metal idols. On the other hand, there’s Kevin (Jaeden Martell) who plays an interesting dynamic in his cohort’s bleak metalized character. He’s nerdy, a drummer for a marching band, and is getting influenced daily by Hunter’s metal allegiance. But then, he also wants to do the normal teen stuff like party, meet girls, and be a part of the “in” crowd.
A Call for Commitment
The band they’re trying to establish is called Skullfxcker and the duo is set for world domination. The problem is that they’ve got no bassist yet. The story revolves around the two bonding on the music they love and getting the band off the ground just in time for an upcoming Battle of The Bands in school. It’s all about the struggles every niche musician faces if they happen to commit to it come hell or high water.
Heavy Music Education
Hunter is already a devoted metalhead. His black band shirts, denim jackets, and countless metal memorabilia in his practice space and yes, that valiant “I hate everything but metal” attitude. He dreams to live the rockstar life one day going as far as gaining encyclopedic knowledge on the music he loves regularly schooling Kevin in the process. That includes getting into trouble with bullies and the typical things high school kids go through.
Yoko Ono Moments
The film also moves around with a love story spin wherein Kevin falls in love with Emily (Isis Hainsworth) who adds quite the typical Yoko Ono vibe where she almost ruins the friendship of our two protagonists. She then picks up the pace by ending up as the third member of the band on cello, completing the aural metal assault AND changing the name to a more acceptable one – Skullflower.
Star Power Involved
Their only song Machinery of Torment was written by Executive Producer and Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello and presents a cool study in metal songwriting. Though a bit too serious for the film, it creates a wall of sound that’s intense enough to cause a high school moshpit including bullies, jocks, and all the stereotypical high school characters.
The film also boasts of some nice rockstar cameo appearances from Morello, Kirk Hammett (Metallica), Rob Halford (Judas Priest), and Scott Ian (Anthrax) which adds to its overall legitimacy aimed to please the older metal fans.
Metal Lords Review Verdict
If you are a fan of “School of Rock” and you want that type of tongue-in-cheek musician comedy, then Metal Lords is a must-watch just before Holy Week begins. It’s a modern take on the genre and it may speak to a certain demographic but then it may change some minds, especially after the killer performance at the end of the film. We’re giving it a strong 8 out of 10 with some horns thrown in.
Speaking of metal-related topics, here’s a brutally honest review of the Morbius movie.
