Given some of the insane heights Metallica has reached and the kind of success they've had financially, it is a bit surprising that it took until 2013 for them to release a theatrical concert film. One would think somewhere in the middle of year three of touring for the Black Album it would've occurred to somebody. One of the biggest compliments that can be given to Through the Never is even if there had been some kind of big screen release for Binge and Purge back in the day or something along those lines, this still would have enough to it to make it a distinct, memorable experience, not just another Metalli-product that the fans will write off as either not as good as Master of Puppets or just as good as St. Anger. To put it another way, this is a bizarre film, but in the best possible way. Nimrod Antal and Metallica have crafted a surefire cult hit, a 3-D concert film in which the world is apparently ending around the venue, but the rock is so loud and so powerful that no one cares.
Powerful is an even more appropriate term than loud. The spectacle on display in Through the Never's concert scenes goes beyond the songs, the band has brought to the fore one of the most elaborate, massive stage setups I've ever seen. The Ride the Lightning chair lowers from the ceiling to break the fourth wall with arcs of (possibly fake) electricity. Lady Justice is assembled and then demolished within the span of a song. During Enter Sandman (another compliment that should be given to this film is that it represents the first time in years that I heard the intro to Sandman and got excited instead of groaning and walking away) the band stages some kind of malfunction that leads to a level of destruction on stage that could seemingly only be wreaked by a kaiju. It's hard to say if this will become the band's stage setup on a regular basis, suggestions have been made that given the cost it would be a wise move financially, but Nimrod Antal and his cinematographer do a very good job off shooting a beautiful film that will stand up even if these kind of events became a regular occurrence. As the coffin shaped light racks from the Death Magnetic tours close in and begin displaying images around the band, and lasers criss cross the stage, Antal's camera captures an image that is almost otherworldly, in perfect harmony with the bizarre events occurring outside. Admittedly, there is no dramatic weight at all to the "storyline" of Through the Never, and even as eclectic heavy metal inspired images it comes really close to not working. But when Dane DeHaan walks through the streets of Any City USA, past assorted corpses hung from light posts and flaming cop cars, intercut with the band playing the intro of Wherever I May Roam? Those guitar effects have never sounded eerier. By the time DeHaan is on fire and brawling to the thrashy goodness that is Battery, if you're not a captive audience member you were never going to be.
All of this, of course, would be moot if the music sucked. Limp Bizkit has had some elaborate stage sets in the past, but they prove hard to separate from the horror that is being forced to listen to "Nookie". Metallica take rightful knocks for producing...some music that is of a lesser quality. The arguments have gotten boring at this point, we all know St. Anger's not great, and at this point Metallica seems to have gotten that message too. The film's set focuses primarily on older material, even going as far as to start with three songs from Ride the Lightning almost consecutively, and what's more it is older material done well. For the first time possibly since he was hired, Rob Trujillo is a real presence in this film. His bass sounds great, and Cliff Burton would be proud of the work he does in Orion, which plays over the film's credits. Lars Ulrich has not become Dave Lombardo, but he handles himself well. His infamous stage faces provide an intriguing test of the IMAX cameras too. James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett's guitars continue to be a force, and Hetfield's voice is in great shape. Metallica, as a unit, are a far cry for the sadness that characterized their last feature film. This is a well oiled machine, fake technical errors aside.
I'd like to think I will have the chance to see Metallica in person one day. There will be a very unhappy teenage boy's essence somewhere in my soul that will not be fulfilled until it gets to chant "DIE, DIE, DIE" during Creeping Death. But, if I don't, this is a very good approximation. There's a deeper fanboy level that could be gone to, one that would include setlist complaints that I try to avoid and nitpicks about changes that have been made to the songs in a live environment that don't work. But that's a rabbit hole that people don't come back from in one mental piece. Through the Never is a damn fine set of live music, a great visual experience, and a downright weird film that is not easily forgotten. At the end of the day, nothing else really matters.
No comments:
Post a Comment