In truth, that clever-clever title is somewhat misleading. In the few short scenes where they’re featured (playing to real live audiences), Blackgammon deal in wiry, aggro art rock rather than beefy riffs. Ruben’s hearing-damage manifests in muddy distortion rather than squealing tinnitus. And, though Marder was influenced by an unfinished project by colleague Derek Cianfrance and killer sludge-metal duo Jucifer, his docu-realist eye for detail is trained more on the half-deserted parking lots and jittery desperation, endless strip-malls and wide-open spaces of this redemptive American odyssey than the gritty, sweaty camaraderie of real life in a band.
That shouldn’t put metalheads off for a second, mind. Oscar season comes littered with worthy misery chronicles and borderline-cynical portrayals of disability and addiction year in, year out, but Sound Of Metal unfolds with a sense of unshrinking authenticity that makes it essential viewing for anyone with a beating heart, let alone a working pair of ears. More than that, it is a reminder that as awesome as thrashing guitars and hammering drums might be, they’re not half as important as those fizzling human connections that made musicians pick them up in the first place.
Verdict: 4/5
Sound Of Metal is available to stream now via Amazon Prime.
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