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.

The 21 year sentence in Norway is called "life sentence", so the life sentence in Norway is 21 years.

Necrobutcher (Mayhem):
Could you repeat the question?


Sam Dunn:
Alot of people think that Black Metal is starting to lose touch with its roots...


Necrobutcher (Mayhem):
[cuts Sam off] Which ones? Who are they? Who the fuck are you talking to? FUCK THEM! Ya know...


Sam Dunn:
...Do you have a comment on that?


Necrobutcher (Mayhem):
Yeah, I got a comment... FUCK YOU!... Ya know?

Factual errors: In the movie Sam says that Varg Vikernes received a life sentence for his crimes. In Norway, however, there is no life sentence. He got the maximum 21 years.

Written by Brian Tatler & Duncan Harris
Performed by Diamond Head
Courtesy of MCA Records