Global Metal (2008)

I've gotta start by saying that I've got nothing against Sam Dunn or his intention to approach metal-heads and non metal-heads (in fact I really enjoyed his first release). However, There are plenty of areas in which this film fails to reach its objective.The first and most obvious flaw is that this movie is not really about how the world assumes and adapts heavy metal to a wide variety of cultural, demographic, economic and geographic situations, but rather spends a vast amount of time capturing the way in which geographically separate nations digest American and British Heavy Metal bands.The second big flaw of this film is the lack of prior info and investigation on local metal that is evident when Sam arrives to foreign lands, which is why he decides to twist the local metal into something he is more likely to recognize. Seriously: Marty Friedman(former Megadeth) interviewed in Japan? Sepultura (probably the most North-Americanized band in south America) as the only Brazilian exponent? Would't standing in front of and interviewing 'Angra' members be a good reason to feature some of their music (Brazil's most locally influenced and internationally acclaimed band)?The third, and probably biggest blunder, was the election of the places he decided to visit. Israel? India? There is so much innovation and interesting things to show in Easten Europe. Argentina has a huge reputation and respect all across America(not north America, but America) for breeding top-class Heavy Metal bands that do not respond to North American Metal trends and refuse recording in English while still maintaining a huge die-hard fan base. Mexico is a huge Metropoli that is constantly releasing socially aimed thrash/death at its finest.

In 2005, Sam Dunn's documentary 'Metal: A Headbangers Journey' explored one of the most misunderstood and maligned music genres.His follow-up 'Global Metal' (inspired by the range of worldwide fan mail for M:AHJ) sees Dunn travel to Asia, South America and the Middle East to discover the impact of Metal in non-western society.The most striking thing is how Metal is used to express emotions forbidden by either the country's culture (such as the polite, ultra-organised and workaholic ways of Asia) or the oppressive regimes of the Middle East (a planned trip to Iran had to be diverted to UAE when Dunn wasn't allowed into the country). The doco climaxes with an epic Iron Maiden concert in India, which drew 30,000 fans. The atmosphere is astounding.Throughout his journey, Dunn interviews Metal legends such as Max Cavalera, Tom Araya, Kerry King, Bruce Dickinson and Marty Friedman as well as everyday fans. While Dunn is a proud Metalhead, he never lets his passion get in the way of his job and lets the interviewers and the music (there's a number of clips from domestic Metal bands in each region) tell the story.If nothing else, 'Global Metal' proves that if Metal can exist in oppressive environments then it is truly one of the most diverse and all-encompassing genres.

Global metal is the second Sam Dunn Heavy Metal documentary. The first, 'Heavy Metal: A Headbanger's Journey' is, so far as I know, the standard documentary covering the Heavy Metal scene. It does an excellent job of both detailing the history of Heavy Metal, and explaining its appeal, but it is focused on explaining Heavy Metal to those who do not know much about it, and because of this, might conceivably have less appeal to hardcore metalheads.'Global Metal" by contrast, is probably better calculated to bring new information to the attention of experienced Metal fans, but is not a condensation of extensive knowledge about the global metal scene, and it shows. This is not a bad documentary, but as exploration on Dunn's part, and constituting a light survey, it is not quite so informative as the first.I would further note that this is not a comprehensive documentary on metal throughout the world, but is more a "metal is spreading to exotic places" sort of documentary. This fact is not a criticism, but knowing this is likely to be important to at least some of the people looking up the film on IMDb.A truly comprehensive film covering the history of metal would necessarily be of epic length, considering that this documentary does not cover the US or European Metal scenes in any significant fashion and yet at 93 minutes, the film does not seem to be especially dilute.

Id like to start by saying, that although this film is obviously going to be most enjoyed by fans of Heavy Metal, Don't let never having been in a Mosh Pit stop you from checking out this Grade A work of Documentary film making.I was lucky enough to win free passes with a friend to see an advanced screening of this film presented by Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen days before I was set to see Iron Maiden and Mastodon live. As a big fan of their previous work "Metal: a Headbangers Journey" I had a lot of expectations of this film, but was still pleasantly surprised.Although as a youth I had been somewhat aware of Metals International heritage due to Bands Like Sepultura and the almost endless TV and movie Jokes about Bands making it in Japan, I was impressed by the truly Global scale of this film. Covering some countries most viewers will know little or nothing about, the Film making duo paints a rich portrait of Metal's global flavor.The depth of this documentary is impressive, delving into the politics and cultural contexts behind the Metal scenes in many of the countries. This is part of what raises this film above what could otherwise have been just snapshots of a few bands and fans.On top of it all is the Music, oh the music. After admittedly drifting away from my head-banging youth for the last few years, this film captured the raw energy that got me into Metal in the first place and sent me right back where I belong, into the arms of the Metal Militia.A must see work for fans of Metal, Documentaries or both.