Exclusive: The Anvil Revival Continues with Re-Release of ‘This is Thirteen’

2009 is the year of Anvil. The Canadian metal band –which has influenced everyone from Metallica to Guns N' Roses to Slayer and has never stopped to take a breath throughout its headbanging history- is again standing in the national metal spotlight, thanks to the 'release of 'Anvil! The Story of Anvil,' the rock-doc directed by Anvil fan and former drum tech Sacha Gervasi.

A flurry of activity is taking place around the band, including select dates with AC/DC and the re-release of '2007's 'This is Thirteen' via VH1 Classic Records on September 15, which will include the newly-recorded, never-before-heard bonus cut, 'Thumb Hang,' which is referenced in the film! The album will also be available on collectible double vinyl, featuring re-recording of Anvil anthems such as 'Metal on Metal' and '666.'

But while the mainstream is only now catching up to Anvil, the band stayed its course from day one. "We are always in the middle of something," vocalist/guitarist Steve "Lips" Kudlow told Noisecreep exclusively. "We recorded and toured for many years, but it's not on a Home Depot level, but a corner, indie hardware store level. Our story speaks volumes for the underground. For every big band, there are thousands that didn't make it big. There are way more failures than successes. It is random, and about being at the right place at right time. Not that all these bands that don't succeed suck. That's not why they didn't make it. This is a poker game where your only ace in your hand is the knowledge that you're good enough. Keep playing the game. Keep betting. That's what Anvil has always done."

As for the rabid Anvil revival, Lips said, "Initially, as soon as Sacha told me he was going to make a documentary about the band, it was as if I could see the future in a hopeful light. It felt like I had won the lottery. I had met my destiny and that it was meant for my entire life's history to be put into a movie." Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner had met Gervasi when he was 15-year-old lad and uber-fan. "We were playing England in 1982, for two nights," Lips said. "This 15-year-old kid who we took a liking to said he would show us around London. Turns out, he had relatives in Canada, so he'd come visit us and we said, 'Come on the road, sell t-shirts and set up drums.'"

While Gervasi eventually went to school and ended up as a screenwriter and working with Steven Spielberg, Lips knew when he approached them about the film, it would be something special. "Knowing that and the depth of honesty in myself, I thought we could bring that to the public. I am in this for the right reasons, not to make it big. There is passion in that," Lips said.