Cinema Review – As The Palaces Burn

Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe’s observation that his music has kept him largely on the straight and narrow and, crucially, out of prison, comes dangerously close to being famous last words in Don Argott’s documentary charting a turbulent time in the band’s history.

Metalheads will already be on the level with Lamb of God’s year or so from hell but it will make for illuminating viewing for anyone else unfamiliar with the band’s history. In a funny old way Blythe’s arrest for manslaughter in the Czech Republic in June 2012 is a gift on a plate for Argott who keeps up the venerable music documentary tradition of being in the right place at the right time as things go tits-up on camera.

Ostensibly a documentary to highlight the bonding power of music, specifically heavy metal, more specifically Lamb of God, Argott is on hand to witness the shit well and truly hit the fan as the band embarks on a world tour to promote their seventh studio album, Resolution.

So for the first 35 minutes it’s a Lamb of God love-in as headbangers from different countries and disparate cultures praise the Virginian quintet for inspiring in them a love of music and a release from the drudgery, prejudice and dangers of their day jobs.

But like Gimme Shelter and Some Kind of Monster before it, As the Palaces Burn finds itself in the box seats as things begin to unravel at a rate of knots. The boys land in Prague only to have their singer abruptly banged-up as he awaits trial for manslaughter charges stemming from the death of a fan at a concert two years prior. It’s a development which, rather cruelly for them and rather fortuitously for the viewer, shows us a band in utter crisis.

What begins as an orthodox, possibly even self-serving piece of filmmaking, becomes a different beast altogether. Blythe’s incarceration puts the band into an enforced and seemingly indefinite hiatus as they begin to understand the accusations made against him and come to terms with the tragic death of a fan.

A curious fact flagged-up in the film is that, outside of the Czech Republic, the story was largely ignored by the mainstream media. So for anyone unaware of the outcome of the trial, the documentary acts as real-life courtroom thriller as much as any kind of investigation into the workings of modern metal band.

This almost certainly isn’t going to have as wide-ranging appeal as something like Living in the Material World or Anvil! The Story of Anvil. Neither is there as much a sense of cultural and musical history being acted out in real time as in say, Woodstock or the era defining Gimme Shelter. Nevertheless, As the Palaces Burn is an honest and raw, balls-to-the-wall examination of musical fraternity in spite of massive uncertainty.

[rating=4]

Chris Banks

Genre:
Documentary, Music
Distributor:
Epic Records
Rating:
15
Release Date:
27th February 2014 (UK, Limited Release)
Director:
Don Argott