Metal music has certain associations that its lovers have embraced while haters and doubters have shunned it. Any sort of genre commonly associated with terms such as ‘death,’ ‘doom,’ ‘heavy,’ ‘sludge,’ or ‘thrash’ makes sense to a specific set of individuals, whereas others simply shake their heads in disgust at the pentagrams, long matted black hair, satanic undertones and plain rage that surrounds such styles.
The latest Netflix movie by Peter Sollett (Raising Victor Vargas) called Metal Lords is one of those attempts to insert this much-derided musical style back into a regular teenage story with unexpectedly charming results. One does not need to be a fan of metal music in order to fully enjoy Metal Lords as the music is investigated for its universal motifs. These elements touch on so much of what constitutes the human condition and are hence more universal than dressing all in black with spikes or biting the head off a bat – the traumas, anxieties and insecurities comprising being an outsider or just not fitting in some way or another. In essence, Metal Lords is just another coming-of-age film about misfits that happens to be cute and hilarious; but actually it rocks too.
Even stranger still, D.B. Weiss writes Metal Lords: this co-creator of Game of Thrones had previously made The Chair together with David Beniof for Netflix aside from his upcoming project called The Three-Body Problem. Therefore he could do anything after winning an Emmy for Game of Thrones, but instead he chose to create a small tale about growing up around heavy metal, which itself speaks volumes about why Weiss wanted to make this movie.
Weiss hits on something very real about heavy metal in this film — otherwise how else can you explain some very famous rockers appearing in comical cameos (Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford among others)? There is even a little surprise cameo from Chuck Klosterman, one of the greatest writers about music (and metal specifically) of the past 20 years. It has an amazing soundtrack and many visuals that reference Black Sabbath, Slayer, Iron Maiden, Mastodon, Pantera and Guns N’ Roses so Metal Lords does not lose sight of its soul.
Metal Lords is a movie about high school life and being a teenager especially if you don’t fit in with everyone else. It revolves around two teens trying to start their own heavy metal band named Kevin and Hunter as well as the girls, bullies, parents and music involved along the way. Kevin really stands out with Jaeden Martell already developing into one of the top young actors working today. He really broke out in St.Vincent opposite Bill Murray and Melissa McCarthy at only 11 years old. Since then Martell (formerly Lieberher), between Midnight Special, Knives Out, and his role in all of the It movies has become a mainstay among child actors; here though he takes on more adult roles with subtle charm and poise that comes from having been around for almost 20 years now.
Adrian Greensmith, who plays Hunter, is the bloody heart of Metal Lords if Martell is its soul. Prior to this motion picture, Greensmith had no credits on his plate and he is a revelation in it, a kind of teenage Adam Driver. He captures every aspect of passion and intensity as well as insecurity in Hunter who after his mother left their family transitions to metal music and does everything possible to keep everyone at arm’s length. In many ways he’s obnoxious, cruel for the majority of the film that tracks him from one extreme to another, becoming slightly more empathetic and patient with time but still remains completely magnetic.
The aforementioned characters’ relations with each other are the very spirit and soul of Metal Lords; reminiscent of Michael Cera & Jonah Hill in “Superbad”, yet another movie about adolescent escapades in friendship, success or failure of this new Netflix picture would depend solely on their acting talents – which they have done good job at. Other actors are fantastic too including Isis Hainsworth playing Emily- Kevin’s equally anxious love interest but it is not until Greensmith and Martell take over.
Hunter is an all-consuming force in society-a battering ram that squashes whatever comes between him even when it means getting beaten up himself. His best friend Kevin on the other hand has a timid personality which succumbs to Hunter’s taste for music. Kevin tries playing drums like what Hunter wants (even when sometimes the sounds made by music resemble that of torture victims) then learns whatever Hunter writes down for him such as song titles or musical notes. There’s only really Kevin and no one else for Miles but he does stick up for his best friend even though he may not know how to help him out sometimes. Wondering how can people do that easily while having anxiety about life looking around at others dancing during parties?
This insecurity began from having an absentee mother and an angry hypermasculine plastic surgeon for a dad (always perfectly sleazy Brett Gelman) thus led him to metal. Metal Lords is less about the music than what it represents, nevertheless; metal as a reaction to and choice of not going with the flow. Many subcultures are immensely fulfilling whether one becomes a ‘juggalo’ in allegiance to Insane Clown Posse or dresses up as a “sweet transvestite” during screening of iconic Rocky Horror Picture Show. Often cult classics exist because fan bases emerge from groups where people finally feel like themselves around their small coterie of loyal friends.
Metal may be the apotheosis of this. The film spends plenty of time trying to figure out what constitutes metal exactly. According to Kevin, after evading two bullies during an intense car chase he just managed to escape at a high speed, “Metal is commitment, and speaking truth to power, and sticking it to the man, and speed”. In examining the genre (with its occasional homoeroticism, sexism, and angsty teenage nihilism), however, it concludes that metal can sometimes be liberating when performed lovingly and open-mindedly rather than out of nothing but pure vitriol and disgust.
Escape from norms, escape from the popular culture and escape from the values and the expectations of the society indeed, but also an escape from one’s own inner demons. What Hunter, Kevin, and Emily discover is that metal can be a therapeutic way out of their traumas, depressions, angers and anxieties. It can actually create a community in which people go crazy with each other in moshing pit and therein lies one continuous solidarity that they can be loud;amazingly strange and remain themselves. The charm, humor and sweetness of Metal Lords captures this idea.
However, Metal Lords tries to be too cute. It is another coming-of-age film narrated through many voiceovers spoken by Kevin in appropriately poetic and regretful tones recalled by A Christmas Story or The Wonder Years. This kind of youthful voiceover has become such a tired trope that it immediately warrants eye-rolls. In a medium where artists are supposed to “show not tell”, using the same lame voice over only makes it even worse. However since A Christmas Story was released 40 years ago maybe we can finally put an end to childhood narratives as they go about life doing nothing much important.
In conclusion, there is random ending which characterizes Metal Lords just like others would do.It falls into several tropes that have become clichés in romantic movies- trash-talking before patch-up,the last-ditch effort,the feel-good dance party et cetera.The only differences are minor though the effect is essentially flat.
But still performances from Greensmith,Martell,and Hainsworth are all winsome enough to carry Metal Lords on their backs entirely well while blending some funny moments with deeper exploration of metal music scenes as well as various subcultures attracting many persons.There are countless people who feel unseen in society.Those who live in these kinds of communities may feel like lords where they can walk away from mainstream existence and exist as individuals.However, they are called Metal Lords.
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