Metal: A headbanger’s Journey

The film takes off with clips from the cult documentary Heavy Metal Parking Lot from 1986. Sam Dunn was 12 years old at the time, and spent most of his time listening to Iron Maiden. This film is his pursuit to explore the musical genre and the subculture he loves, through the perspective of an anthropologist and with the insight of a true fan. Shot on location in the UK, Germany, Norway and the US, the journey takes us through metal’s origins in blues and classical music, and roughly explains the complex system of the sub-genres of metal. Above all, this documentary profits from its many interesting interviewees. Hardcore fans, insightful outsiders, and an impressive line-up of heavy metal celeb personalities (Alice Cooper, Bruce Dickinson, Dio, Vince Neil, and Slipknot, to name a few) pin down metal’s often provocative obsession with image, sex, religion, violence, and death, and discuss the tribal attitudes and strong fraternity of the metal community. Metal: A Headbanger's Journey is an entertaining and informative documentary that wants to do for the genre what Some Kind of Monster did for Metallica. It offers a demystifying look at the scene and its followers, and a ride that can be enjoyed by a fellow fan as well as a curious outsider. CARIN LARSSON