Thanks for this, Josh. Great song and a great band (and a great single sleeve too!). Really insightful observation about how their lasting appeal comes from top craftsmanship as opposed to influence trafficking. Glad to see the A.V. Club still writing occasional pieces about groups from its alt-weekly roots, even if…

Don’t get me wrong, I am sure this film is awful. Its predecessor was idiotic, ideologically horrifying and aesthetically repellent. However, in a review anxious to poke holes in the naïve lionization of ancient Greece you seem pretty willing to be equally wide eyed in celebrating Achaemenid Persia.