Inside the metal gods' early-morning rehearsals: riffs, jokes, raw power

On a Michigan concert calendar loaded with prominent festivals and A-list shows, Metallica's Orion Music + More already sits in the top tier. The metal kingpins will lead a diverse roster of 39 handpicked acts that includes the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rise Against, Deftones and Bassnectar, as Detroit Rock City gives itself over to a weekend island getaway.

Growing up in Detroit, the three brothers who comprised the protopunk band Death fantasized about playing their music on Belle Isle.

Heavy metal legends Metallica have released the first trailer for their upcoming 3D IMAX movie, Through the Never. It features an epic car crash and scenes from a police riot interspersed between live clips of the band performing the title track to their 1986 full-length, Master of Puppets.

The concert film has been back on the rise in a big way lately, with full-scale concert features chronicling such young-skewing talents as Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, the cast of "Glee," and Katy Perry taking over movie theaters everywhere (and guaranteeing that audiences don't need to set foot into an arena to hear the ear-splitting screams of adolescent fans). But what about music fans who aren't into the dulcet tones of the pre-pubescent?

A grisly car crash followed by an all-out riot may not be what you expected to see in a Metallica 3D concert film, but that's exactly how the new trailer for Metallica Through the Never opens. Helmed by Hungarian director Nimród Antal, the film was said to blends concert footage from three shows filmed in Vancouver last August with a narrative arc featuring the actor Dane DeHaan playing a fictional member of the band's road crew.

Metallica have unveiled the first trailer for their upcoming, IMAX-conquering 3D concert film, Metallica Through the Never, and, as expected, the blockbuster-sized flick looks outrageous. Flames, car wrecks, masked horsemen, and mobs of people in riot gear dominate the preview above.

"Metallica Through the Never" is an upcoming IMAX 3D extravaganza that offers a fresh spin on the whole tried-and-true "concert film" format. More than a just a "spin," actually -- it adds an additional parallel narrative to concert footage of the longtime band proving that nobody rocks quite as hard as guys who traditionally might have retired about two decades ago.

But before they can record their first set since 2008, the metal icons are preparing the Orion Music festival and a 3D movie. "We're getting there," says bassist Robert Trujillo, "and we'll have something great, hopefully, in the next year"