>>REVIEW
METAL: A HEADBANGER’S JOURNEY
DIRECTED BY Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen and Jessica Joy Wise
Opens Friday, February 24
Uptown Screen
Babes and bands covered the walls, large black flags emblazoned with Ratt, Iron Maiden and Skid Row (Heather Thomas in a pink bikini) in a room with only the necessities – a weight bench, waterbed and stereo. This is circa 1985, my brother’s bedroom, the den of a tried-and-true headbanger and the site of my indoctrination into the world of metal.
A few years later, in that very room, my brother would welcome me in, time and time again, closing the door and cranking the tunes, in an effort to instil in me, his only bro, the same passion for a music that was, and always will be, his livelihood. And while I would eventually discover a music all my own (Blind Melon, Nirvana, etc.), never again would I be able to look at a guy’s bulge in tight leather pants without getting nostalgic.
Which brings me to anthropologist Sam Dunn’s rock-u-mentary Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey. Dunn, my brother and legions alike spent their formative years opening their defiant hearts to the Church of Metal – screaming the gospel according to Maiden, Slayer and Motorhead, they became card-carrying metal-heads ordained to rock.
And whatever your opinion on the music, headbangers, rockers, metal heads (however you choose to label them) are by far the most loyal and devoted fans. The point is best articulated by Rob Zombie in said film: "No one goes ‘I was really big into Slayer one summer.’ I’ve never met that guy; I’ve only met the guy that’s got Slayer carved across his chest" – tout chez, Mr. Zombie.
And though Dunn prefers to view this film as an objective look into the culture of metal heads and their music – why they’re condemned and dismissed by the media, politicians and critics alike – the reality is that Dunn’s objectivity on this subject is forever compromised by his religious affiliation. His subjects are fellow disciples, so why should he show anything but love and admiration for them?
That being said, Dunn’s film is a labour of love that manages a balance between rallying the troops and enlightening the masses, but who gives a fuck about the masses! |
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