Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Anvil are a heavy metal band from Canada who have been around for over 30 years and who are probably the greatest thrash-metal band never heard of by most people.

April 1973 in Toronto, Steve ‘Lips' Kudlow met drummer Robb Reiner, (not the Rob Reiner who directed ‘This is Spinal Tap‘) began playing music together and vowed to make rock ‘n' roll until they were old. Two years later, Anvil's full lineup consisted of Lips on lead vocals and lead guitar, Reiner on drums, Dave Allison on vocals and rhythm guitar and Ian Dickson on bass. They became the thrash metal gods of the 80's and were good enough to influence the style and sound of bands like Metallica, Anthrax and Megadeth. So what happened to them? Did they vanish into obscurity?

Anvil! The Story of Anvil is a documentary about their slow rise to fame, or ‘15 minutes of it' and their long, long fall. It traces the band's attempt at a comeback in 2007, where Director and Anvil fan Sacha Gervasi (The Terminal screenwriter) follows the men in their everyday lives, their current jobs where Reiner is seen working in a demolition project ‘recommended by his psycho analyst' and Lips drives a truck delivering school meals, where he unamusingly describes the menu rota - one week shepherd's pie and meatloaf, the next week it could me meatloaf and shepherd's pie, or shepherd's pie and meatballs - It is obvious his mind is focused on something else here, his dreams of a big break, because when he later talks about stardom, we see the innocent rock dreamer that he has never stopped being. His eyes carry the same twinkle and original fire they had when he was 16 years of age.

Gervasi spends time with Lips' and Reiner's family, interviewing siblings and wives, Lips' mum, and their children - they come across as good family men, where ‘'family is everything'' to them. But the wives, even though supportive, are not as optimistic of their ‘big break' as they are. They claim they've had their fifteen minutes of fame, they've been fighting for a comeback unsuccessfully for the past 30 years, its time to give up and move on.

One other fan Tiziana Arrigoni of Sweden, books a European tour for Anvil (2007). This was the tour that went drastically wrong, the poorly planned tour of sleazy rock caverns in the Czech Republic and Transylvania that turns into a series of farcical disasters. They miss trains, don't get paid, end up lost in Prague but still play late to a crowd of 10 people. They're invited to ‘Monsters of Transylvania' a big heavy metal event in a 10,000 capacity venue, and as painfully hopeful Lips comments on their way to the stadium ‘I hear the mayor of Transylvania is going to be there!' - the crowd number is 178. Lips epitomizes optimism, especially following their tour fiasco "Everything on the tour went drastically wrong. But at least there was a tour for it to go wrong on."

On their return, and despite the string of demoralising events since their attempt at a comeback tour, they maintain their will to achieve their dreams. Lips decides to send a demo to veteran producer Chris Tsangarides in the hope of recording their 13th studio album. To their amazement he invites them over to Dover, UK, where they spend some intensely stressful weeks recording, and where Lips and Reiner life-long friendship almost breaks under the strain. The album is recorded, and everyone is thrilled by it, at least Lips and the rest of the band are ‘'Our best work''. Sadly, major labels do not share the same view, and they have to release it themselves. At this point, you find yourself asking the question ‘'Are they that bad musically?"... or has it always been a question of not being at the right place and at the right time for them, because the samples played in the film don't sound bad at all.

Despite their influence on thrash metal over the years, and their awareness of it, where even Lemmy from Motorhead asked Lips to play guitar for them, there is absolutely no arrogance in their beings, but an enormous amount of humility. Lips is seen to be childishly excited when they find themselves amongst the classic rock stars during their tour. You feel for their genuineness so much, you actually find yourself hating the ocassional dismissive manner in which they are greeted by some artists.

You will also be emotionally moved by this film, ocassionally reduced to a few tears. This is the story of a failed heavy metal band, and of their perseverance to carry on. Of their optimistic and good-mannered approach to all that life has thrown at them since they first swore their pledge to continue to make music together until they were old. As Slash asks during a backstage interview "How many bands stay together for 30 years?"