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The reviews are in for "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey"

Sun, Feb 26, 2006@11:01AM | comments removed/disabled

The heavy metal documentary, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, which features Geddy Lee among many other hard rockers was released across Canada this weekend. Several reviews have already come out and are mostly positive. This one from Eye Weekly contains an interesting opinion from Geddy:

Evil and educational, this Canadian-made tribute to the heaviest of music contains a wealth of surefire conversation starters at your next social occasion. Here are my four favourites. No. 1: Geddy Lee thinks Blue Cheer was the first heavy metal band, while Lemmy favours Deep Purple. No. 2: Black Sabbath used the symbol of the cross to protect themselves from the forces of darkness, not to attract them. No. 3: Medieval Christians deemed the tritone -- the musical interval used in such songs as Metallica's "Enter Sandman" -- "the devil in music." And No. 4: Ronnie James Dio is no larger than the average garden gnome. ..

From JAM!:

... BOTTOM LINE: Much-maligned heavy metal gets a much-needed boost in Canadian filmmaker/longtime headbanger Sam Dunn's entertaining and informative documentary. Effectively Heavy Metal: 101, Dunn explains the appeal of this "outsider's music."

This one from globeandmail.com is mixed in its opinion:

... a commercially astute idea tapping into a mass heavy-metal subculture that, apart from concert movies, has had relatively little documentary film attention. The idea of looking at the music from the perspective of a fan, and plugging it full of interviews with rock idols, is clearly a winner. ... Though arguably not hugely different than watching a MuchMusic special, Metal has the hook of its narrator, Sam Dunn, one of the three directors of the film, who has been a metal-head since he was 12 and has a graduate degree in anthropology. ... Too often, the anthropologist in the film nods off while the unabashed fan takes over. There is not even a basic attempt to distinguish between the musical genre and the subculture around it. ... There is a good deal of attention to heavy metal's sensational horror-movie trappings and often hostile relationship with Christianity. ...

This review from Metro gives the film 3 out 5 stars but with this caveat:

... if you’re a lover of the metal music, you’re going to want to add another star or two to this review. If you’re not, be advised: It’s kind of repetitive, not terribly insightful and filled with music that will not necessarily speak to you ...

The film will receive its U.S. premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW), set to take place March 10-19 in Austin, Texas.

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