Riveting Documentary Focuses On The Fans, Rather Than The Usual Documentation Of A Band On Tour

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If you're a LAMB OF GOD fan, you're going to want to see this shit. Director Don Argott and the members of LAMB OF GOD's new documentary, As the Palaces Burn , is a film unusual in its outward-focus on the fans, rather than the usual documentation of a band on tour. The official premiere of As the Palaces Burn will run on February 16, 2014 in Philadelphia, PA., and will hit worldwide beginning February 27th.

LAMB OF GOD's previous DVD releases, Killadelphia (2005) and Walk With Me in Hell (2008), take an introspective approach, documenting the band on and off the stage. As the Palaces Burn goes deeper, and it's clear in each member's commentary throughout the film, that they are grateful for the storms they have weathered, enabling them to enjoy what is happening right in front of them now.

Oscar Castaneda, taxi driver and metalhead, gives testimony as to how LAMB OF GOD and heavy metal in general has helped him through hard times. As if they've been friends for years, the band embrace Castaneda backstage at a show in Oscar's native Colombia. During a LAMB OF GOD stop in Mumbai, India, Pratika Prabhune, a LAMB OF GOD devotee and lead singer in a death metal band, talks about her appreciation of singer Randy Blythe, expressing how his lyrics speak to her. Prabhune admits she is seen as strange in that the majority of young Indian women don't have tattoos, don't listen to metal or wear the garb. The clips of LAMB OF GOD concert footage in Mumbai show Prabhune up in front of the crowd, singing the lyrics word for word.

Upon landing in Prague, life for LAMB OF GOD, particularly for Randy Blythe, abruptly changed. Because of an incident that occurred on the band's previous trip to the Czech Republic in 2010, the singer was been brought up on manslaughter charges for the death of a fan, Daniel Nosek, in an apparent stage-dive mishap. "Things could not have shit the bed more," drummer Chris Adler said of Blythe's well-publicized arrest and incarceration in June of 2012. Except for Blythe's 38-day incarceration itself, where cameras didn't roll, the film's attention is directed towards Blythe's bandmates, each conveying feelings of concern for both their friend and the band's future, while expressing their sadness for Nosek's death and concern for his family. There are many moving moments during this segment of the movie, showing a picture of Blythe not seen before. His authentic, off-stage persona is almost unexpected.

With "Free Randy" the rallying cry of friends, family and fans, it's impressive how Blythe was willing to face the music and go back to Prague for trial after he was released from prison and had returned to the US.

The Q&A portion at the end of the film with Eddie Trunk and all members of the band is an added inducement that provides a look at each member's close tie to the band and the new camaraderie that has replaced the well-known tensions in the band's past.

Rating: 5.0 stars out of 5.0

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