Part of the fun of “Metal Lords,” not surprisingly, is the metal soundtrack.
D. B. Weiss of “Game of Thrones” fame wrote this teen comedy about a couple of high-school best friends who live and breathe heavy metal.
Hunter Sylvester (Adrian Greensmith) is serious about his music and his band, whose name I cannot print here. He and his best friend, drummer Kevin (Jaeden Martell) spend hours practicing.
Now they have something to practice for: A battle of the bands is coming up at their school. Hunter knows they need a bass player – perhaps that’s feisty Emily (Isis Hainsworth.)
It isn’t giving away much to tell you that the presence of a girl in the lives of the two young musicians might just split up both the band and the friendship. Then again, it might bring them closer together.
I love how the friendship begins to dissolve the moment Emily appears on the scene. If you’ve watched many teen-centric movies at all, you’ll find this familiar but not a carbon copy of other such movies that preceded it.
Part of the fun involves cameos by real metal musicians, including Kirk Hammett, of Metallica – I love the way “For Whom the Bell Tolls” is featured throughout the movie. Rob Halford, of Judas Priest is another familiar face in a small role.
The soundtrack is just wonderful. I’m sure that Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello – a music executive producer for the film – had something do with that.
At its core, the movie is about love: For a friend, for a new romantic interest, and for metal music. It’s surprisingly touching in a lot of ways.
You don’t have to be a metal aficionado to enjoy this film, but it will be all the more enjoyable if you are.
3 stars
Rated: R for foul language, violence and sexual situations.
Running time: One hour and 37 minutes.
Streaming on Netflix.
