Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (2005) 8/10

I'm a lifelong metal fan. I've been listening to metal ever since I discovered Metallica's Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets in the 4th grade. Yup, I was a 10 year old headbanger, and have been ever since. Metal: A Headbanger's Journey is a wonderful documentary about the culture and history of metal told from the eyes of a metalhead. This is way overdue.

The film is written and directed by a man who has spent his whole life worshipping at the altar of metal, he also just so happens to have a degree in anthropology and constructs the film through his educated eyes. He takes great pains to accurately draw the history of metal from the roots laid down by the mighty Sabbath, to the split of power metal and thrash and goes further into the segmentation of metal into Death and Black, among others. The film also tries to answer the question raised by its creator, "why is metal so maligned in our culture today?" Personally I believe he does a very good job of dispelling myths as well as revealing the truth, no matter how ugly or damning. He uses a very fair and even hand throughout the film, acknowledging grievances with care.

Beyond that, the film is filled with great interviews with Tony Iommi, Lemmy, a very drunken Mayhem, Enslaved, Gorgoroth, Dio, Lamb Of God among many others. The only thing i didn't like about the film is the fact that they decided to interview members of Slipknot. It would be one thing if these guys had any cred in the metal scene, but unless you're a 14 year old boy who doesn't know any better, the general consensus is that Slipknot is garbage. True metal fans, and I believe this film is directed to those people, can't help but role their eyes at every slipknot shirt wearing dumbass out there. Hell they didn't even have anything particularly intelligent to say that wasn't said better by someone else. Total egotistical douchebags.

That being said, if you have even a passing interest in metal check out this well made, researched, and paced film.

Overall - 8/10 (-1 for slipknot)