"7 Countries, 3 Continents, 1 Tribe"
This documentary begins with Canadian anthropologist/film-maker Sam Dunn surrounded by 60,000 jubilant headbangers at the Wacken festival. It ends with Dunn and 30,000 fans watching Iron Maiden's first-ever gig in India.
In between, we travel to Brazil, Japan, China, India, Indonesia and Dubai, hoping to discover how and why Heavy Metal has made such an impact on fans worldwide.
"Global Metal"can best be summed up with a series of vignettes
A Tokyo bar full of drunken salarymen singing along to "Highway Star"
Metallica playing a gig in Indonesia while outside rioting fans turn the city into an inferno.
The lead singer of an Israeli band pointing out that when people can suddenly blow themselves up right next to you, songs about demons don't seem quite so frightening
.
The Indian resort hotel that has a Death Metal gig in one room and a Bollywood wedding in the next.
An Iranian fan standing next to the Slayer logo he's just painted on a wall.
The guitarist of Tang Dynasty explaining why the long haired look really works for Chinese men.
The two things that repeatedly come across in "Gobal Metal" are the way young men and women worldwide use Heavy Metal as a way of fighting back against conformity, poverty and repression. (A big issue in, say, a nation that can have you jailed for wearing a black t-shirt) as well as the way fans worldwide don't just copy whatever comes out of The West but try and incorporate elements of their own culture and identity. (Visual Kei - a Japanese take on Metal is...interesting.)
There are possibly too many of the standard travelogue shots - time-lapse traffic, Jumbo jets in flight, yada yada - but Sam Dunn is a likeable protagonist, the interviews with bands and fans are fascinating and there's a certain enjoyment to be had in watching metalheads worldwide going nuts.
"Global Metal"can best be summed up with a series of vignettes
A Tokyo bar full of drunken salarymen singing along to "Highway Star"
Metallica playing a gig in Indonesia while outside rioting fans turn the city into an inferno.
The lead singer of an Israeli band pointing out that when people can suddenly blow themselves up right next to you, songs about demons don't seem quite so frightening
.
The Indian resort hotel that has a Death Metal gig in one room and a Bollywood wedding in the next.
An Iranian fan standing next to the Slayer logo he's just painted on a wall.
The guitarist of Tang Dynasty explaining why the long haired look really works for Chinese men.
The two things that repeatedly come across in "Gobal Metal" are the way young men and women worldwide use Heavy Metal as a way of fighting back against conformity, poverty and repression. (A big issue in, say, a nation that can have you jailed for wearing a black t-shirt) as well as the way fans worldwide don't just copy whatever comes out of The West but try and incorporate elements of their own culture and identity. (Visual Kei - a Japanese take on Metal is...interesting.)
There are possibly too many of the standard travelogue shots - time-lapse traffic, Jumbo jets in flight, yada yada - but Sam Dunn is a likeable protagonist, the interviews with bands and fans are fascinating and there's a certain enjoyment to be had in watching metalheads worldwide going nuts.
Recommended if you like your Metal. If you don't like Metal but have always wondered if there's anything more to India's music scene than Bollywood pop and what happens when angry youngsters are exposed to Western music, you might be pleasantly surprised:
How much did I pay for this? About £15. And I had to order it from the USA because for some bullshit reason "Global Metal" never got a UK release.
Was it worth it: Definitely.
Here's the Trailer if you're interested:
And sometimes you hear about a gig turning into a riot. In this case, they're not kidding:
"The lead singer of an Israeli band pointing out that when people can suddenly blow themselves up right next to you, songs about demons don't seem quite so frightening"
ReplyDeleteEinstein's the man.
It's still all about relativity
Cheers, ic