���� Hands down my favorite music documentary from 2015, The Color Of Noise is a sprawling punk rock epic that chronicles the rise of one of the most iconic American underground labels of the post-punk era, Amphetamine Reptile. Anyone with even a passing interest in the whole "noise rock" phenomenon of the eighties and nineties is going to be familiar with this label: started up around 1985 a young US Marine and belligerent punk rocker named Tom Hazelmyer as an outlet to release music from his own band Halo Of Flies, Amphetamine Reptile quickly grew into one of the most influential labels of its time, championing an uglier, noisier, nastier underbelly of underground music that would eventually come to be known as "noise rock". Some of the heaviest bands you've ever heard found themselves on Am Rep at one point or another, from NYC crunch-thugs Unsane and Helmet to the raucous, trombone-slingin' Cows, the post-Chrome psychedelic space punk of Helios Creed to the awesome, creeped-out noise rock outfit God Bullies, as well as Aussie sleaze punks Lubricated Goat, sludgepunk gods Melvins, twisted metalloid maniacs Today Is The Day, and a legion of other ear-splitting, anti-social outfits. Some of my favorite bands came from the label, and Am Rep provided the soundtrack to a large chunk of the 1990s for me, not to mention the influence that the label's visual aesthetic and blue-collar work ethic had on an entire generation of younger indie labels.

���� With a history and background that spans three decades, the story of Hazelmyer and his label is fascinating stuff, now documented in an extensive, oral-history style narrative on The Color Of Noise, directed by Eric Robel of The Heroine Sheiks. The film combines interviews with all of the key players and bands involved, mixed in with thrilling live footage of bands like Thrown Ups, Halo Of Flies, Cows, Melvins, Today Is The Day, God Bullies and more. The documentary reaches from early days of the label through the major label scurry that ended up making minor stars of Helmet, then later explores the label's visual aesthetic and it's relationship to some of best known poster artists and graphic designers in the post-punk counterculture, eventually leading up to Hazelmyer's more recent forays into the fine art field. It certainly feels like no stone was unturned as the full story behind Amphetamine Reptile unfolds, and the result is one of the best underground music documentaries in recent years.

���� The Color Of Noise is available as a double-disc set that includes both Blu-ray and DVD versions of the film, and includes loads of additional features, from director's commentary to other short documentary featurettes, cut scenes, an old cable access interview with Hazelmyer, CBGB performances from Unsane, Janitor Joe, Cows, Hammerhead and Surgery, an extensive Am Rep poster gallery, and more, and comes with an eight page booklet that features additional liner notes from director Robel and Hazelmyer.