About Metal: A Headbangers Journey
In Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, Sam Dunn plays himself, a 30-year old anthropologist. He's also a lifelong metal fan. After years of studying diverse cultures, Sam turns his academic eye a little closer to home and embarks on an epic journey into the heart of heavy metal. His mission: to try and figure out why metal music is consistently stereotyped, dismissed and condemned, even while the tribe that loves it stubornly holds its ground- spreading the word, keeping the faith and adopting the styles and attitudes that go way beyond the music.
Sam visits heavy metal landmarks as far flung as L.A.'s Sunset Strip, the dirtly streets of Birmingham, and the dark forests of Norway. Along the way, the two sides of Sam Dunn - curious anthropologist and rabid fan - collide, as Sam explores metals's obsession with sexuality, religion, violence, and death, meets his heroes, and discovers some things about the culture that even he can't defend. Part social document, part celebration of a misunderstood art form, this documentary is the first of it's kind: a chance for metal fans to speak out and a window into a culture that's far more complex than it appears.
Featured Artists
TONY IOMMI (BLACK SABBATH)www.iommi.com
DEE SNIDER
www.deesnider.com
SLAYER
www.slayer.net
ALICE COOPER
www.alicecooper.com
SLIPKNOT
www.slipknot1.com
ROB ZOMBIE
www.robzombie.com
VINCE NEIL (MOTLEY CRUE)
www.vinceneil.net
BRUCE DICKENSON (IRON MAIDEN)
www.ironmaiden.com
RONNIE JAMES DIO
www.ronniejamesdio.com
CANNIBAL CORPSE
www.cannibalcorpse.net
GEDDY LEE (RUSH)
www.rush.com
LAMB OF GOD
www.lamb-of-god.com
TOM MORELLO (RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE)
www.ratm.com
ARCH ENEMY
www.archenemy.net
JOHN KAY (STEPPENWOLF)
www.steppenwolf.com
ENSLAVED
www.enslaved.no
EMPEROR
www.emperorhorde.com
KORN
www.korn.com
VOIVOD
www.voivod.com
KITTIE
www.kittie.net
MAYHEM
www.thetrumayhem.com
GIRLSCHOOL
www.girlschoold.co.uk
GORGOROTH
www.gorgoroth.info
DORO PESCH
www.doropesch.com
HADES ALIMIGHTY
www.hades-almighty.com
Metal Experts
MALCOLM DOMEacclaimed UK metal journalist, historian and DJ
DEENA WEINSTEIN
DePaul University sociologist and author of "Heavy Metal: The Music and Its Culture"
ROBERT WALSER
UCLA musicologist and author of "Running with the Devil: Power, Gender and madness in Heavy Metal Music"
KEITH KAHN-HARRIS
UK socialist; expert on death, violence and extreme metal
www.kahn-harris.org
GAVIN BADDELY
Satanist and author of "Lucifer Rising: Sin, Devil Worship and Rock & Roll"
CHUCK KLOSTERMAN
SPIN magazine writer and authoro of "Fargo Rock City: A Heavy Metal Odyssey in Rural North Dakota"
PAMELA DES BARRES
world famous "super groupie" and author of "I'm With the Band"
DONNA GAINES
sociologist and author of "Teenage Wasteland: Suburbia's Dead-End Kids"
www.donnagaines.com
ROSE DYSON
Canadian researcher and writer on violence
Industry Personanalities
BOB EZRINproducer, worked with Alice Cooper, KISS, Pink Floyd; inductee to the Canadian Hall of Fame
BRIAN SLAGAL
founder and head of Metal Blade Records
www.metalblade.com
MONTE CONNER
Director A&R for Roadrunner Records
www.roadrunnerrecords.com
ROBERT KAMPF
head of Century Media Records
www.centurymedia.com
ROB JONES
DJ at KNAC in LA, America's oldest metal radio station
EDDIE TRUNK
longtime metal radio DJ
JOEY SEVERANCE
longtime metal tour manager
THOMAS JENSEN
founder of Wacken Open Air, Germany
www.wacken.com
Fans and Others
ERIC BRYAN16 year-old metal fan from Riverside, California
SAM GUITOR
13 year-old femail metal fan from Quebec, Canada
JOE BOTTIGLIERI
34 year-old metal fan from New York
ROLF RASMUSSEN
church minister in Bergen, Norway
- The Gazette Read The Gazette's 4 Star Review (pdf)
After taking the Headbanger's Journey, the uninitiated will know there is more than evil at work. There is a lotta sex, history and music too"
-CTV Full Story (pdf)
"This documentary is strong enough to make believers out of non-metalheads, and inside enough to the devil horns salute from the most die hard followers. The soundtrack might be as expected, kicks ass!"
-Variety Full Story (pdf)
"An exciting and intelligent look at Metal culture"
-Chart AttackFull Story (pdf)
"Surprisingly Engaging"
-The Province Full Story (pdf)
"I walked out thinking I had experienced the best music documentary that I have seen and certainly the most difinitive documentary on heavy metal"
-ChainsawFodder.com Full Story (pdf)