The hair-swinging, head-banging veterans have released a cinematic trailer for their 3D filmic concoction of classic-style concert footage and fictitious riot-themed scenarios. Dane DeHaan, star of Chronicle and 2014’s The Amazing Spider Man 2, takes centre-stage, playing a roadie who’s urgent duty leads him on a bizarre mission through Molotov cocktails and police batons. Think Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii meets Harry Brown. Furthermore, their infamous drummer, Lars Ulrich, divulged at the San Diego Comic-Con on Friday that the band would start work on a new studio creation in 2014.
‘Metallica – Through the Never’ joins the ranks of the pseudo-apocalyptic genre, bringing 80’s metal fire and brimstone imagery to the screen, although in this case the havoc is man-made. The fact that the film’s premature notions were based around playing “the biggest stage you’ll ever see anywhere” (Ulrich) in Vancouver’s Rogers Arena makes the story line both seem gratuitous and peripheral. Even though the movie has not been formerly reviewed, the seemingly excessive narrative smacks of a frivolous budget and the band’s whimsical desires. In all fairness, Metallica have sold over 85 million records world-wide since 1980 and continue to perform a barrage of live concerts, despite their diminishing years, thus rendering them a legendary act with a staunch fan base.
The plans for a 10th studio endeavour do not make the heart sink. Metallica seem to harness an unpolluted repertoire of favourites, a feat that can only be attributed to the fact that their sound is iconic and unique. James Hetfield’s affected, menacing vocals, Robert Trujillo’s punching bass riffs, Kirk Hammet’s distinctive, luscious ultra-speed solo’s and Lars Ulrichs steady yet thrashy drumming, makes them a formidable four-piece. If the album is anything like 2008’s Death Magnetic we can’t expect waning just yet.
The film will open in the USA’s Imax cinema on September 27th; a joy ride in comparison to the depressing, disband-defying documentary ‘Some Kind of Monster’.
