In 1989, BBC2 television aired a five-part music genre documentary series in the UK called "Arena." One of the episodes, "Heavy Metal," featured live footage from Metallica, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Napalm Death, Motörhead, Slayer and others.

The production features no narration, instead relying on interview commentary and concert clips to place the viewer in the heart of the metal scene and elliptically tell the story of the genre.

Various scenes specifically delve into metal culture: a club full of kids, but no bands, mosh around a dancefloor to music broadcast on a PA; and a kid who couldn't be more than 10 shreds out solos with more agility than most thrash metal veterans.

There are also straight-out humorous moments, like when an interviewer asks W. Axl Rose, "Do you have anything in common with Iron Maiden, and he replies without a pause, "I hope not."

All in all, this is one of the better metal documentaries, one that never stoops down to provide a dull history lesson and always relies on near stream-of-consciousness fim and editing to convey the excitement, chaos and intensity of the music we cherish like no other.

An excellent short documentary about Iraqi metal band Acrassicauda struggling to play shows and survive amidst the turmoil of their war-torn nation has been posted in three sections, each consisting of five to seven five-minute long chapters.
Here's some of the promo copy about the program:

The Baghdad-based band Acrassicauda was formed in the last few years of Saddam Hussein's rule and aside from the typical problems every band has, they also had to deal with the stigma of playing dark western music in an Islamic state under Baath party rule, while coming out of a decade of war, sanctions, and poverty.

We found their story inspiring. When we interviewed the band they were excited to be living in a newly freed Iraq, and their future seemed limitless. They even talked of recording an album. Things took a turn for the worse, however. After a few months respite, the situation in free Iraq deteriorated quickly and by the end of the year, after a few key insurgent attacks -- the bombing at the UN building, the massive strike at the grand Shi'a mosque in Najaf -- Iraq started to unravel.

We stayed in touch with the band through this time and in the fall of 2006, with the insurgency reaching a fevered pitch, VICE Co-Founder Suroosh Alvi and VBS Producer Eddy Moretti decided to visit them. Here is some of what they discovered, and it's a true story of courage, tenacity and the universal right to rock.

How many thrash fans know that before Overkill became a contending New York thrash band, the members donned face paint and goth eyeliner and lead singer Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth wore a vampire cape onstage? Or that the group's early dungeon stage set was composed largely of supermarket milk crates? And while everyone knows Metallica lead guitarist Kirk Hammett was originally in Exodus, not as many headbangers are aware that Anthrax ex-guitarist Dan Spitz started out in Overkill.

These are just a few of the factoids revealed in the hour-long film "Born in the Basement," which came out May 12. The movie tells the story of Overkill founder Rat Skates, who started as drummer in the punk band Lubric---s and gradually transformed the project into Overkill, one of the hardest working thrash bands of the early '80s.

"Born in the Basement" isn't really a documentary about Overkill. It's a story about ambition, perseverance and creativity -- a tale about fighting the odds and flipping the bird to the forces of adversity in order to pursue a dream. And it's a reality check for anyone who thought being in a signed rock band was an invitation to lifelong rock stardom.

The film was written and narrated by Skates, and in the process of telling his personal story, he reveals how thrash metal emerged from the resentment of suburbia, the attitude of punk and a love for the new wave of British heavy metal. But the coolest parts of the film illustrate how Skates publicized the band through DIY marketing: silk screening all the band's t-shirts by hand, stamping its logo on guitar picks, drumsticks and tollbooths and photocopying everything from flyers to cassette inserts to make Overkill seem as professional and put together as possible even though the band nearly always broke.

Interestingly, the story ends with Skates deciding to leave the group he loved in 1987 because, even though Overkill were touring the world and had been signed to a major label, the members were being given a mere $15 per diem to eat and receiving no royalties or merch income.

Rather than relate the story with resentment or hostility, Skates simply tells it like it was, revealing all of the highs and lows of life in an active thrash band. And he does so with a sense of humor and a great fondness for the past.

In addition to the insightful commentary, "Born in the Basement" features previously unseen footage of the Lubric---s and early Overkill as well as music and photos from Skates' archives.

A preview for the film can be found here.

Now check out the band's only video with Skates on drums, "In Union We Stand":

A five-part black metal documentary shot for VBS.TV called "True Norwegian Black Metal" has been posted in its entirety on the VBS.TV Web site.

The film, named after the term bands like Darkthrone and Mayhem used to describe their nefarious music, looks at the history and development of the black metal genre, but focuses on the band Gorgoroth to tell the tale. Especially unsettling is the lengthy interview with the band's vocalist Gaahl.

A thorough review of the 30-minute short can be found at blogcritics.org.

Every time big Norwegian black metal bands release new albums, people start re-examining the history of the extreme music form, which is chock full of savage and evil exploits, including church burning, suicide and murder.

While the roots of the movement can be traced back to the English band Venom and the Swedish outfit Bathory, it was Mayhem that ignited the torch of black metal in Norway and led the anti-religious crusade until frontman, Euronymous (pictured above) was murdered in 1993 by Varg Vikernes, the leader of another band, Burzum.

The Norwegian documentary "Satan Rides the Media" by Torstein Grude aired in early 1999 and recounts the bizarre, violent scene with rare interviews with Vikernes, other musicians, journalists, and members of the clergy.

The 51-minute long film is in Norwegian with English subtitles.

Before tearing into new releases by Mayhem, Dimmu Borgir and Marduk, get some perspective on the blasphemy. And if you're craving more knowledge, pick up a copy of the book "Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground."

One thing we learned from the alternative and nu-metal revolutions is that you don't have to have long hair to rock. But if you want to headbang, it sure looks a lot cooler with at least mid-shoulder length locks. And in you're gonna windmill headbang, you've pretty much gotta have hair like a Viking. Afros ain't gonna cut it and neither will mullets.

The thing that got us thinking about windmill (or helicopter) headbanging was going to the Cannibal Corpse show in New York on Sunday night and seeing the members of opening band, Behemoth, whipping their hair around in such rapid circles it looked like they were gonna take flight. It takes skill to be able to play an instrument with speed and agility while rotating your head around like the exorcist baby. Even the band's drummer, Infernus, has mastered the art of windmill headbanging, and to watch someone play hyper-kinetic blast beats while spinning their head is a sight to behold.

Some insist that W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless invented windmill headbanging, but all we remember from early W.A.S.P. shows is that ridiculous exploding buzzsaw codpiece, fake blood and slabs of rancid raw meat being flung at the crowd. No, for our money, it was Slayer singer and bassist Tom Araya who conceived the windmill headbang back when the band was touring for 1985's Hell Awaits.

Since then, dozens of longhairs have picked up the art, most notably ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, Cannibal Corpse singer George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher and members of Cradle of Filth, Morbid Angel, Amon Amarth, Meshuggah and As I Lay Dying.

For a classic example of synchronized windmill headbang, here's Amon Amarth's "Runes to My Memory":

photo courtesy of www.bathory.se/

With a new album by the biggest black metal band, Dimmu Borgir, hitting this week, it's a good time to revisit one of the founders of Scandinavian black metal. Before there was Mayhem, before there was Emperor, Burzum Immortal or Darkthrone, Sweden's Bathory planted the sinister seeds for all that was to follow.

A one-man-show staged by the mysterious Quorthon, Bathory recorded raw, primitive songs that blazed like a burning church and told tales of hideous demons, devil worshippers, Norse gods and Viking warriors. And while Bathory's first two albums, 1984's Bathory and 1985's The Return were recorded with sub-par equipment and featured sub-par songwriting and musicianship, their impact is still felt today.

Bathory's third album, 1986's Under the Sign: The Sign of the Black Mark, was more evolved musically and with the arrival of its follow-up, 1988's Blood Fire Death, Quorthon had abandoned Satanic lyrics and addressed Viking themes that would prove just as inspiring for future generations of Norwegian metal warriors.

Quorthon recorded and released another eight studio albums before his death in2004 of heart failure. In 2006, three volumes titled In Memory of Quorthon were issued as a box set by his label, Black Mark.

During its career, Bathory released just one video, "One Rode to Asa Bay":
bathory -one rode to asa bay

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