Metal Evolution

Sam Dunn is a 30-year old anthropologist who wrote his graduate thesis on the plight of Guatemalan refugees. Recenly he has decided to study the plight of a different culture, one he has been a part of since he was a 12-year old: the culture of heavy metal. Sam sets out on a global journey to find out why this music has been consistently stereotyped, dismissed and condemned and yet is loved so passionately by its millions of fans. Along the way, Sam explores metals' obsession with some of life's most provacative subjects - sexuality, religion, violence and death - and discovers some things about the culture that even he can't defend. Shot on location in the UK, Germany, Norway, Canada and the US, this documentary is the first of its kind. It is both a defense of a long-misunderstood art form and a window for the outsider into the spectacle that is heavy metal. Written by Scot McFadyen

A mini-documentary on Norwegian Black Metal contained on the DVD release of Metal: A Headbanger's Journey

Road Outtakes contained on the DVD release of Metal: A Headbanger's Journey

Metal Evolution: Extreme Metal is the definitive documentary episode exploring the musical history of metal's most underground sub-genre. Featuring candid interviews, never-before-seen archival material, rare music clips and travel footage from around the world, the episode will bring you closer to the personalities and historic locations of Extreme Metal than ever before. This episode will give testament to metal's most misunderstood sub-genre, thrilling both die-hard metalheads and the general music lovers alike.

Metal Evolution: Albums is the next level of Banger’s famous Metal History Family Tree, delving deep into the most influential metal albums ever made. In 1995, Swedish Death Metal band At the Gates released what many metal diehards recognized as a perfect record, SLAUGHTER OF THE SOUL. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of this landmark recording, Sam Dunn travels to Gothenburg to interview the band.