'Headbanger's Journey' Director: 'Metal Comes From Places That People Want To Forget About'

Australia's The Courier Mail recently conducted an interview with Sam Dunn, one of the directors behind the critically acclaimed "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" documentary that focuses on the history of heavy metal music.

With a masters degree in social anthropology and as a regular contributor to various academic journals, Dunn is used to the assumption his taste in music leans more towards Beethoven than BLACK SABBATH.

But he has been a metal fan since the age of 12 and at 31 has co-written, co-produced and co-directed a documentary he hopes will help others understand his obsession.

"Metal has never really been the province of the intelligentsia or the tastemakers," Dunn says, explaining why metal traditionally has been overlooked as a credible art form.

"It was always punk rock that appealed to the more urbane, cosmopolitan population.

"Journalists grow up listening to pop not metal," he adds with a laugh, "and I honestly think that's a big factor in why it took so long to do an in-depth documentary on it. Metal comes from places that people want to forget about — the suburbs, the industrial armpits of society."

Through interviews with performers and fans across the world, "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" purports to dismantle the commonly held belief that a love of loud music somehow equates to a violent temper and low IQ.

"People have a very visceral reaction to metal music because of its volume, its speed, its aggressive sound," he says.

"Because of that there's an assumption that the people who like the music are also violent and aggressive," Dunn argues.

"And I think that's generally false. I think what people get from metal is a sense of release, a kind of catharsis that they can't get through any other kind of music or any other aspect of their life."

Read the entire article at this location.