Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 25, 2022

Kind of sadly, Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story begins with a compendium of news reports and the like from decades ago that unfortunately sound they're actually being ripped from the headlines - of today. Rampant homelessness, crime, and a President (Reagan, in this case) bemoaning the fact that we're experiencing the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. The more things change, the more they remain the same may be the implied subtext, but there's frankly never been anything quite like the explosion of energy that emerged from this region during this time period, much of which is lovingly dealt with and recounted in this very interesting piece.

There's a really sweet and perhaps unexpectedly nostalgic air wafting through this documentary, two descriptors that might not immediately jump to front of mind when watching archival video and/or audio of young guys screaming their guts out while aggressively playing any number of probably seriously damaged instruments. Some of the history here is absolutely charming in its own way, including now long forgotten "tape trading" clubs that united metal fans globally long before there was a widely available internet, as well as what seems like a fairly organic birth of a (sub?) genre erupting from a geographical region which is frequently thought of, by "outsiders" at least, as being incredibly scenic and exciting, but which is described here repeatedly by guys who grew up in the East Bay as being "incredibly boring". That boredom is actually overtly cited as one of the formative reasons so many kids were out there forming bands.

There are a ton of really fun and often funny interviews suffusing Murder in the Front Row, and some probably largely unknown history of the internecine relationships between bands which would in some cases at least go on to worldwide fame and glory. The documentary actually focuses on the legendary Bay Area band Exodus, which despite their success and acclaim may never have gotten as much recognition as, say, Metallica. The documentary intersperses the very enjoyable talking heads segments with archival video and audio of various performances, along with sometimes whimsical animated interstitials. The maxim "only the good die young" ends up giving the documentary a bit of an emotional pull, as well, for reasons which won't be disclosed in this review.

Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. This is another music centered documentary where there is an understandably wide variance of quality levels when comparing contemporary interview segments with archival video, and as such there's an unavoidably heterogeneous appearance on display at times. The new talking head sequences are all sharp and well detailed, though even here there can be a few minor variances, as when two guys visit the old Ruthie's haunt where magic (or something) was made years ago, but all of the "sit down and talk into the camera" moments look fine. As should be expected, a lot of the archival content can be pretty ragged looking, including perhaps unexpectedly even some of the still photographs.

Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story features nice sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 audio options, though again as anyone familiar with these types of documentaries will probably already be expecting, the music is often used interstitially and just as frequently with voiceover intruding, so while the surround track definitely opens up the proceedings and provides noticeable extra energy in the low end, it may be more of an intermittent rather than a consistent improvement. One way or the other, both tracks offer solid fidelity without any issues other than some inherent deficiencies in some archival audio. Brian Posehn's narration is always clear and problem free. Optional English, French, German, Spanish and Greek subtitles are available.

Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director's Commentary


• Bonus Features (SD; approximately 92:00). As can be seen from the screenshot I've uploaded of the Main Menu (screenshot number 10), kind of oddly this release numbers rather than names its Bonus Features, which are an assortment of variously timed but typically one or two minute additional interviews, all in SD.

This is packaged in a somewhat oversized quasi-DigiPack that is housed in a slipcase and opens into three sections with a ton of archival stills inside.

Murder in the Front Row: The San Francisco Bay Area Thrash Metal Story Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It should probably come as no great surprise to regular readers of my music centered reviews that thrash metal is not exactly my "go to" genre, but that may make the fact that I so highly enjoyed Murder in the Front Row as much as I did the real surprise. This is both highly informative and highly entertaining, and even those who, like me, aren't especially enthusiastic about this style may find a lot to enjoy here. Technical merits are generally solid and the bonus interviews are another plus even if they're in SD. Recommended.