PRESS / REVIEWS
“Good as Hell” – The Stranger, Megan Seling (March 2023)
“Even Hell has its Heroes” – The Stranger, Dave Segel (July 2022)
“Even Hell Has its Heroes Explores Earth, PNW’s Divine Creator of Drone Metal” – redefine, Zach Frimmel (May 2023)
“Five More Movies to See at This Year’s Local Sightings Film Festival” The Stranger, Chase Hutchinson (October 2023)
ABOUT THE FILM
EVEN HELL HAS ITS HEROES
2023 | USA | 110 min
LOGLINE
Since 1989, the slowest metal band on Earth has conjured some of music’s most striking tectonic changes. Not only did the band Earth create a glacially paced subgenre of metal, but visionary leader Dylan Carlson did so amidst heroin addiction and the tragic death of his best friend, Kurt Cobain.
SYNOPSIS
Since 1989, the slowest metal band on the planet has conjured some of music’s most striking tectonic changes. Not only did the band Earth create a glacially paced subgenre of metal and play a pivotal role in the popularization of grunge, but visionary leader Dylan Carlson also did it while battling small-town boredom, heroin addiction, and the tragic death of his roommate and best friend, Kurt Cobain.
Despite the high volume of its beloved and beautiful drone metal, Earth has rarely had much to say for itself. For the first time, in a moving saga that respects the music as much as the ragtag cast of eccentrics and surreal Pacific Northwest majesty that shaped it, Clyde Petersen gets to the core of the could-have-been-tragic triumph of Earth, the slow band that changed everything it touched.
Director Clyde Petersen
Producers Clyde Petersen, Kathy Lindenmayer, Bruce Bond, Lynn Shelton, Benjamin Kasulke, Corey J. Brewer, Keith Bacon, Jody Poorwill, Theo Hilton, Paul Shin, Leah Gold
Editor Clyde Petersen
Music Earth
Cast Featuring Dylan Carlson, Adrienne Davies, Slim Moon, Brett Netson, Stuart Hallerman, Bruce Pavitt, Michael J. McDaniel, Phil Ek, Tom Hansen, Jonathan Poneman, John Schuller, Jonas Haskins, Steve Moore, Randall Dunn, Mell Dettmer, Don McGreevy, Bill Herzog, Bill Frisell, Angelina Baldoz, Lori Goldston, Karl Blau, Jodie Cox, Holly Amber, Tristan Jemsek, Jay Crash, Heidi Elise Wirz, Corey J. Brewer
FESTIVALS & AWARDS
CPH:DOX 2023 (Festival World Premiere)
Indie Memphis (Award: Best Sounds Feature)
Makedonska 21 (Award: Best Sound)
IndieLisboa (Special Jury Mention)
Seattle International Film Festival (Festival US Premiere)
Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
Montreal Pop Festival
Amplifest
Sled Island Music Festival
Way Out West
Chicago Underground Film Festival
Bumbershoot Arts Festival
Bogatá Experimental Film Festival
New Zealand International Film Festival
SPACE
Vashon Island Film Festival
Local Sightings
Musikfilm Festivalen
Tacoma Film Festival
Doctober
Sonica Ekrano
Sound Unseen
In-Edit Barcelona
In-Edit Chile
Doc’n Roll
EXHIBITION FORMATS
DCP, ProRes
ACCESSIBILITY AND LANGUAGES
Open Captions available in English, French, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish, German and Japanese
QUOTES
“This movie corrects everything horrible about contemporary documentaries. I wish it was 10 hours long.”
-Spencer Moody (Murder City Devils)
“Even Hell has Its Heroes by director Clyde Petersen is an impressive work, given its ambitious mission: to portray the mysterious music of the Earths by bringing together, on a journey, those who contributed to it. A poetic and, as it should be, humanised portrait of a work driven by introspection, experimentation and contemplation. In it we are (always) carried away by the guitars, in the presence of the landscapes of a strange and familiar America. As fascinating and distant as the work of Earth that this beautiful documentary has so well unveiled to us.”
-IndiaLisboa Jury Statement (Special Mention)
“A comprehensive look at the history and legacy of the metal band Earth, Even Hell Has Its Heroes is a true achievement of a documentary in every sense as its sonic resonance echoes just as the group’s meditative music does decades later. Entertaining as all hell, whether you’ve followed Earth for years or have yet to be graced by their music, Even Hell is the absolute best film of this year’s festival, and it carves out an irreplaceable place in Washington cinema history. More than a recounting of the group’s origins, the film eschews typical documentary conventions, with its overreliance on talking heads, by interweaving interviews with the footage itself. It is a work befitting the grandiosity of Earth’s creations that takes us fully into the minds of those behind it and illuminates how they left their mark on a genre that will forever owe them a musical debt. There is a darkness, but an earned vibrancy emerges as well.”
-Chase Hutchinson (The Stranger)
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Image credit Clyde Petersen
