In their follow-up to Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, co-directors Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen explore the effects of globalization on heavy metal, asking why would a musical genre with roots in the working-class West be so popular across the world? The answer has a lot to do with freedom of expression and the desire to live a life unencumbered by tradition. Hitting the road, the pair start in Brazil, where Dunn visits a metal mall, looks back at the Rock in Rio Festival, and speaks with Sepultura's Max Cavalera, who was so broke in the early days that he used batteries for a makeshift bullet belt (a metal/punk fashion accessory). In Japan, Slayer's Tom Araya and Kerry King recall wild shows in the East, although fans tend to live divided lives: rowdy at concerts and in karaoke bars (where Deep Purple rules), but exceedingly polite at work. Journalist Yoshiyuri Ohno even compares KISS to Kabuki theatre, which partially explains why the band's outlandish look met with such little resistance in the Land of the Rising Sun. In India, Dunn chats with metal heads in Mumbai (who feel alienated by their culture's overwhelming embrace of Bollywood), before moving on to China, Israel, and Indonesia (which has welcomed a number of major metal bands, including Sepultura and Metallica). Although Iran authorities deny his visa application, Dunn still manages to talk to Iranian, Saudi Arabian, and Egyptian fans at Dubai's Desert Rock Festival. A documentary sure to appeal to metal lovers and cultural anthropologists alike, DVD extras include audio commentary by the directors, extended interviews, and outtakes. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)
Global Metal
(2007) 2 discs. 95 min. DVD: $24.98. Warner Home Video (avail. from most distributors). ISBN: 1-4198-8282-1. Volume 24, Issue 5
Global Metal
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