It takes a special brand of moxie (or delusion or intoxication) to play metal seriously. For the Toronto, Canada based Anvil, who are the subject of The Terminal screenwriter and former #1 Anvil fan Sasha Gervasi’s documentary, the outrageous dream of everlasting youth that fuels even the most pedestrian of aging rock bands to continue on is still in full force as its members grapple with life in their fifties.

The film, which opens on Friday after a stellar, year long trip around the American festival circuit, chronicles the band’s origins, their decade of relative success and their fall into obscurity. For its members, Steve “Lips” Kudlow (lead vocals, lead guitar), Robb Reiner (the drummer, not the director of This Is Spinal Tap), Dave Allison (vocals, rhythm guitar) and Ian Dickson (bass), Metal is not something to be outgrown, to be cast aside as an embarrassing folly of youth. While it may seem that being a faded eighties hair metal band star is one of the more unfortunate paths that could befall a professional musician, for the members of Anvil, who began a new tour last night that is largely due to the publicity the film has generated, perhaps a third act can still exist. I doubt we can say the same for the following bands.

Acid Reign

This British fivesome, who were only active from 1987-1991, are mostly known for their first album, The Fear, which hit the top 10 British indie charts in 1988. After touring the UK and Europe with labelmates Nuclear Assault and Exodus on what was then dubbed the “Fabulous Disaster” tour, they flamed out with a second album (presciently titled Obnoxious) that received mixed reviews and spelled the end of the band’s time as a recognizable presence of the British charts. Their final show in 1991, held at London’s Marquee Club, is perhaps best known for Les from the cult British TV show “Vic Reeves Big Night Out” providing some support on bass.

Demolition Hammer

This Bronx, NY based trio was signed by Century Media Records after a pair of 1988 demos, including one called Skull Fracturing Nightmare, caught the attention of the label. Exhibiting the most blatant blast beat, guitar riff-laden, thrash/death metal style, there first two albums, Tortured Existence and Epidemic of Violence, were moderate successes, but after lead singer Steve Reynolds deicded he wanted the band to go in a “slower” direction, several lineup changes to produce the new sound failed both artistically and commercially. After former drummer and tattoo artist Vinny Daze was killed by a poisonous Globefish on March 11th, 1996, the band quickly faded into obscurity.

Hellbastard

Perhaps the most promising crust punk/thrash metal band of their day, Hellbastard was formed in 1986 in the UK after its members, Scruff Lewty, Eric Thompson, Thrash Stratton and Joint Lea met at a Subhumans show. Their sound exhibited the definite influence of Slayer, while they publicly exhibited an anarchist political platform that while obviously copped from fellow crust punk metal band Crass, had a distinctly feminist, anti-war, anti-racism flavor. Although their only LP, Heading for Internal Darkness, was a modest hit, they broke up in 1992. In 2007, they announced via their brand spankin’ new Myspace page that we had not heard the last from Hellbastard. A release is expected in 2009.

Metal Church

First called Shrapnel when they original formed in the fall of 1981 (why they didn’t call themselves Ronald Reagan’s Bullet Wound is a mystery to me), they didn’t release an album until 1984’s self-titled debut, although 1986’s The Dark remains their quintessential work. They retained a melodicism not present in much mid 80s Metal, resulting in their storied unclassifiability. After being signed by Elektra and having their single “Watch the Children Play” receive frequent airplay on MTV, they released four more full-length albums to varying degrees of success before disbanding in the early 90s. They got back in 1998 and have been playing with their third vocalist since the early part of this decade.

Uncle Slam

Formed in 1984 as The Brood, their original lineup included former Suicidal Tendencies drummer Amery Smith. After releasing a self-titled debut in 86’, they changed their name to Uncle Slam the following year. Soon former Suicidal Tendencies bassist Louiche Mayorga joined the band as well and they released their first album under the new name, Say Uncle, in 1988. They released two more albums, added another former Suicidal Tendencies member (R.J. Herrera, who replaced the departing Smith, who later teamed up with Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys to form BS 2000) and broke up in 1995, after releasing the currently unavailable LP, When God Dies.