Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story (2019) User Reviews

secret history of destruction

[filmgeekenator · 9/10 · 16 September 2019]

Having grown up in the bay area in the 80s and graduating from punk to thrash,death and black metal,i have awaited this film since the book was released. It is fun and informative. Doesnt linger too long on any one subject and has segments on people no longer with us who were crucial, such as wes robinson, paul baloff and cliff burton.i imagine real fans will always want more and the scope of a documentary is limited by its own running time.for instance, testament was barely mentioned. Where was sadus? Or death angel. Robb flynn was interviewed , but i dont remember anything about vio-lence. Minor gripes when seeing your adolescent years on screen, i guess. Metal has for a long time lurked in the shadows and avoided being over analyzed, unlike punk. Finally there are a number of really good books, and films (like this one) about our dirty secret. Bang your head against the stage, indeed

Informative metal doc

[Red-Barracuda · 8/10 · 4 May 2023]

I think I would be hard pushed to describe myself as a thrash metal fan. On the latest count I have 6 thrash tunes out of 16,186 songs in my iTunes library - thats not much commitment to the genre by any objective standard. But if there is one thing I like and that's a music doc, so it stands to reason I was going to be interested in checking this one out regardless. While it is about thrash metal generally, its more specifically about the San Francisco Bay Area scene which kicked the genre off. Influenced by European metal, the thrash scene rejected the very popular hair bands of the day, who constituted what most people thought metal to be back in those MTV influenced years. Needless to say, it seemed to be of especial importance to the thrash people to exhibit no image at all - I recall back in the day Anthrax receiving a lot of stick for having an image, which when you consider that all that amounted to was the wearing of Bermuda shorts and the holding of a placard with 'NOT' written on it, it makes you realise how ridiculous this was. If you believed the furore you would be forgiven for thinking Anthrax must be trying to attract Liberace fans. It seemed that in order to appear a legitimate thrasher you had to look like someone you would hire to lay tiles in your bathroom. There is quite a bit of focus in this doc on how this kind of thing was pretty important.

The doc takes a talking heads format, with contributions from many bands, including the likes of Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, Exodus and Death Angel. We learn about their influences, outlook and the places they hung out. It's a look at a type of music which began as pretty underground and remained decidedly non-mainstream even when some of the groups were selling lots of records. There didn't seem to be a lot of women involved - especially in the bands themselves - so inevitably the scene was a bit of a sausage fest. With this in mind, there are a disproportionate number of tales of quite tedious macho behaviour from some of the more bone-headed fans. This didn't overly surprise me as it reminded me of attending the Monsters of Rock festival back in 1988, where the entertainment between bands seemed to be members of the crowd launching projectiles in the air - this, I recall, resulted in my mate Andy being hit on the back of the head with a plastic cannister full of urine. I'd be willing to bet that you wouldn't get this kind of carry on at a Richard Marx concert.

All-in-all, this is a good music doc - its entertaining and informative, with a lot of bands covered. So, whether or not you are a fan of the genre, you should still get something out of this on purely a music history standpoint.

Deathrash origins

[DBlackthorne · 8/10 · 28 March 2023]

"Murder in the front row / Crowd begins to bang / And there's blood upon the stage / Bang your head against the stage / And metal takes its price / Bonded by blood!"

Details the evolution of Thrash Metal by various bands from both coasts, and some in-between. This presentation concentrates on those mainly on the West Coast. Influenced & motivated by the European likes of Venom, Celtic Frost, Bathory, Mercyful Fate, to Motörhead, Diamond Head, Angel Witch, Saxon, UFO, Black Sabbath {DIO, Ozzy, solo}, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and others; Slayer, Exodus, Testament, to Metallica, Megadeth, Possessed, Death Angel, Suicidal Tendencies, DRI & others, defined an extreme genre while spreading destruction and debauchery along the way.

Recounted from the perspective of those who perform the music and evilive the life, along with relatives, from a veritable berserker & barbarian aesthetic & mis/conduct, to virtuoso level skills & talent, sometimes combined with Horror macabre theatrics, seems the Gates of Hell parted with a darkside alternative to generic culture while decrying pop, Glam, & posers.

It seems the bestial legions were unleashed upon that inaugural crest, with several more demonic waves to follow. Just a bit more attention afforded to Black Metal & Occult inspirations.

* Featured bands: Testament, Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth, Exodus, Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, DRI, Possessed, Metal Allegiance, Death Angel, Vio-lence, Forbidden, Heathen.

* Interviews: Alex Skolnick, Charlie Benante, Chuck Billy, Dave Lombardo, Dave Mustaine, David Ellefson, Gary Holt, James Hetfield, Kerry King, Kirk Hammett, Larry LaLonde, Lars Ulrich, Mark Menghi, Mark Osegueda, Phil Demmel, Rick Hunolt, Robert Trujillo, Robb Flynn, Tom Araya, Tom Hunting.

Dracommendations * The Ultimate Revenge 1 {Venom / Slayer / Exodus} / 2 {Forbidden / Faith Or Fear / Death / Dark Angel / Raven}.

* Get Thrashed. In Flames, Anthrax, Metallica, Exodus, Lamb Of God, Slayer, Testament, Megadeth.

* Cliff 'Em All. {Metallica}

Light (But) Fun

[nitro72 · 6/10 · 6 January 2022]

Surprisingly light (in length & depth) doc about the birth of heavy music in the early 80s. Temporarily pauses the fun to acknowledge some of the genre's fallen heroes. #nitrosMovieChallenge.