‘A Band Called Death’ Blu-ray Review: The family that rocks together stays together. ‘A Band Called Death’ is a touching documentary about three brothers dedicated to each other and their musical vision.
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When you hear the title ‘A Band Called Death‘ you’d imagine such a band to be nihilistic and morose.
But you’d be wrong, and the music-doc ‘A Band Called Death’ (Drafthouse Films) is all about those limiting misconceptions.
Death were a Detroit band formed in the 70’s by the Hackney brothers (David, Bobby and Dannis). They were a musical anomaly. They rocked too hard for their local Motown Scene. But their deeply religious nature didn’t exactly scream rock and roll rebellion. They were their own genre.
[amazon_image id=”B00CPTUMSO” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]A Band Called Death (+ Digital Copy) [Blu-ray][/amazon_image]
Inspired The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Alice Cooper, their sound bristled with punk energy, pre-dating the genre by four years.
Death suffered for being ahead of their time. Record companies were already reluctant to finance a black rock band. But their name is what hurt them the most.
Band-leader David Hackney refused to change it, costing them a deal with music mogul Clive Davis. His brothers were frustrated by his stubbornness. But for David, ‘Death’ was a positive name. For him, death was just one phase of existence; “The world’s just one big waiting room.”
The band continued on until the early 80’s when it imploded. Dennis and Bobby went on to other musical ventures. And David went into full tortured artist mode, drinking and smoking himself to death.
Before he died he gave the brother’s a master tape of Death’s material, saying “One day the worlds gonna come looking for the death stuff and I know that you will have it when they come looking for it.”
And years later, they did; the band receive belated appreciation via thrift stores, e-bay and a piece in the New York Times. Watching their musical rebirth is touching and thrilling, especially when Dannis and Bobby’s children get in on the act.
‘A Band Called Death’ is a seamless mix of archival footage and contemporary interviews with the band, and other rock luminaries including Alice Cooper and Jello Biafra. The film also includes animated photo montages which pop with great clarity on the Blu-ray release.
If there’s a negative to be had, it’s that film is a tad overlong, and gets a bit repetitive.
Special features include commentaries from the filmmakers and the band, deleted scenes and a live performance the 2013 SXSW festival.
If you’d like to own A Band Called Death and see the full list of special features, click on the Amazon link below:
[amazon_image id=”B00CPTUMSO” link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]A Band Called Death (+ Digital Copy) [Blu-ray][/amazon_image]
It’s also available on iTunes: