Metal evolution
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Metal evolution |
| Country of production | Canada |
| original language | English |
| year | 2011 |
| Production company |
Banger Films |
| length | approx. 45 minutes |
| Episodes | 11 + 1 (subsequently produced) in 1 season |
| genre | documentary |
| Theme music | Iron Maiden - The Trooper |
| production | Sam Dunn Scot McFadyen |
Metal Evolution is a documentary series about the development of the heavy metal music genre from 2011. The series was produced by the Canadian company Banger Films for the music channel VH1 , directed by Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen, who are also responsible for the script. In a total of twelve 45-minute episodes, the history of heavy metal is traced from its origins in the late 1960s to the present day.
backgrounds
The idea and the concept are based on the "Metal Evolution Tree" that Dunn and McFadyen had developed as part of the Metal - A Headbanger's Journey project. The two filmmakers had a program on the music channel VH1 Classic in which they already conducted interviews with personalities from rock music and metal. When they spoke to the broadcaster about other projects, the idea for a documentary film series about heavy metal arose. VH1 was enthusiastic about the idea, and so eleven independent films were made about the various development phases and sub-genres of heavy metal. The films are moderated by Sam Dunn and excerpts from concerts by metal bands as well as interviews with well-known musicians, label owners and music journalists are shown. The English language first broadcast took place from November 2011 on the Canadian music channel MuchMore and the American channel VH1 Classic, the German language from November 2012 on iM1 . The series was nominated for the 2013 Canadian Screen Awards for Best Documentation . The series was released on DVD in March 2012 . In 2012, Banger Films announced that they wanted to shoot a twelfth part of the documentary entitled The Lost Episode , which deals with Extreme Metal . A fundraising campaign raised approximately $ 40,000 which was used to complete this episode during 2013.
Reviews
The Ox-Fanzine praises the idea, but criticizes the lack of extreme varieties of heavy metal such as death metal or black metal . The creators were not able to implement the concept satisfactorily and it left a "stale aftertaste":
“However, they were not able to implement their concept of explaining the development of metal with musical historical pedigrees in a completely satisfactory manner. "Metal Evolution" shows the origins, the growth and the crises of the genre from the sixties to the present day using interviews, archive material and Dunn's comments, partly intensely, partly only touchingly, but the decision to dedicate one episode primarily to various subgenres tears holes into history. "
Amboss Mag is similarly critical , the series focuses too much on well-known bands and musicians such as Slayer , Metallica and Iron Maiden , while almost completely neglecting the underground . But the magazine also sees Metal Evolution as positive overall:
"For real insiders there isn't much groundbreaking new to discover, but when you watch the documentary, you get an infinite amount of desire to put on the old records."
Episode list
| No. | title | First broadcast | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | United States | Germany | ||
| 1 | Pre-metal | November 25, 2011 | November 11, 2011 | November 1, 2012 |
| The first episode deals with the origins of heavy metal. The search begins in Memphis , the birthplace of rock 'n' roll . | ||||
| 2 | Early Metal, Part 1: US Division | November 25, 2011 | November 19, 2011 | November 8, 2012 |
| The search for the beginnings of metal in the USA begins with Detroit Rock . In addition, the episode examines the effects of the ending hippie movement on the development of music towards darker and heavier sounds. | ||||
| 3 | Early Metal, Part 2: UK Division | December 2, 2011 | December 3, 2011 | November 15, 2012 |
| Independent of the USA, the UK developed its own scene, the origins of which are shown in this episode. The focus is on bands like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest . | ||||
| 4th | New Wave of British Heavy Metal | December 9, 2011 | December 10, 2011 | November 22, 2012 |
| The New Wave of British Heavy Metal is shown as the most successful era in the development of Heavy Metal to date. Particular attention is paid to the first commercialization of the genre. | ||||
| 5 | Glam metal | December 16, 2011 | December 17, 2011 | November 29, 2012 |
| Glam Metal is presented as the first variety of Metal, which is defined by the external appearance of the artist in addition to the music. In addition to the enormous commercial success of bands such as Def Leppard in the 1980s, the critical view of the rest of the scene on this variety of heavy metal is discussed. | ||||
| 6th | Thrash | December 30, 2011 | December 23, 2011 | December 6, 2012 |
| This episode shows how the NWOBHM was received in the USA and how Thrash Metal developed from it. Lars Ulrich ( Metallica ), Dave Mustaine ( Megadeth ) and Scott Ian ( Anthrax ) have their say . The episode comes to the conclusion that Motörhead's music can be seen as a blueprint for Thrash Metal. | ||||
| 7th | Grunge | January 6, 2012 | December 29, 2011 | December 13, 2012 |
| Sam Dunn explores the question of where grunge comes from and why it polarized metal fans so much. It shows grunge as a counterpart to radio- and TV-compatible metal of the late 1980s. | ||||
| 8th | Nu metal | January 20, 2012 | January 6, 2012 | December 20, 2012 |
| This episode traces the evolution of Nu Metal from its inception to its decline. The focus is on Rage Against the Machine , Faith No More , Korn and the Deftones . | ||||
| 9 | Shock rock | January 27, 2012 | January 13, 2012 | December 27, 2012 |
| Based on psychedelic rock and glam rock , which is particularly popular in Great Britain, the sub-genre "shock rock" emerged in heavy metal. Kiss is presented as a style-defining and most important representative . Alice Cooper has a say among other musicians . | ||||
| 10 | Power metal | 3rd February 2012 | January 20, 2012 | January 3, 2013 |
| Power Metal emerged from the intersection of the riffs of Ritchie Blackmore , the music of the Scorpions and the precision of Judas Priest . Sam Dunn shows a worldwide cross-section of the genre from Europe to the USA, Canada and South America to Japan. | ||||
| 11 | Progressive metal | February 10, 2012 | January 27, 2012 | January 10, 2013 |
| Progressive Metal is presented as a sub-genre whose roots lie in Progressive Rock from The Who or King Crimson . The Canadian band Rush is shown as the founder . The episode traces the development process from its beginnings to its enormous diversity in modern times. | ||||
| 12 | Extreme Metal: The Lost Episode | April 15, 2014 | - | - |
| Produced after the first eleven parts were broadcast. The episode shows the development of death metal in Florida, black metal , grindcore and other extreme sub-genres of heavy metal. The production was made possible by an Indiegogo campaign. | ||||
Web links
- Metal Evolution on the Banger Films website
- Metal Evolution in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Nathan Mattise: In Metal Evolution Rock Gods Hammer Out Genre's History. wired.com, November 30, 2011, accessed July 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Sebastian Kessler: Headbanger series 'Metal Evolution' on German television. Metal Hammer , October 31, 2012, accessed July 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Thank You From Sam. (No longer available online.) Bangerfilms.com, December 13, 2012, archived from the original on July 28, 2013 ; accessed on July 14, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ André Bohnensack: Music DVDs - Reviews: METAL EVOLUTION. Ox-Fanzine # 106, 2013, accessed July 2, 2013 .
- ↑ Chris: Metal Evolution (Documentation). Amboss Mag, December 16, 2012, accessed July 2, 2013 .
