Heavy Metal Documentary

For those interested, able and curious about the heavy metal sub-culture, please check out Sam Dunn's "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey". This is an excellent documentary that looks at the some of the social issues surrounding metal, and is highly recommended. Sam Dunn is an anthropologist by training and a heavy metal fan. This makes for a somewhat sympathetic, but insightful look into the world of metal. Recommended for those who carry typical misconceptions about the heavy metal scene.

However the most important aspect of metal - the music - is never discussed. Apart from a very brief talk about how metal grew out of blues + punk, and why metal singers (that's a funny phrase) tend to be operatic and higher pitched (this is because opera singers had to perform in massive auditoriums and thus needed to be able to project their voices to the back - thereby they had to amplify their voices. A microphone is nothing but a method of amplification. Put the two together and you have amplification squared. Now, you need that kind of voice, because the guitars are going loud, fast and with a heavy bass.)

For a somewhat deeper look into the origins of what is called "thrash metal", which is combination of punk and the more classic rock inspired british heavy metal of the early '80s, check this thrash metal documentary out. It's in Swedish; however, most of it consists of some of the legends of thrash metal talking about how they grew up as musicians.

Also a very interesting theory in Sam Dunn's film. Metal is mostly a boy's club. Less so today perhaps but still...anyway, one of the more interesting ideas put out in the film is that glam bands (with the make up and the big hair etc) came about as a result of the consistent leather-and-chains sort of look that most metal bands in the late 70s, early 80s had adopted. The best way to "show" your "manliness" was to become partly a woman...it is twisted logic, but it makes sense because really how much more leather can a guy wear?