The film discusses the traits and originators of some of metal's many subgenres, including the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, power metal, Nu metal, glam metal, thrash metal, black metal, and death metal. Dunn uses a family-tree-type flowchart to document some of the most popular metal subgenres. The film also explores various aspects of heavy metal culture.
Full of splendid social and psychological insights.
– Colin Covert,
Minneapolis Star Tribune,
13 Apr 2006
rotten:
A lightweight fanboy valentine for ostensibly heavyweight music.
– Bruce Westbrook,
Houston Chronicle,
14 Apr 2006
fresh:
It'll make you want to dig out your Whitesnake T-shirt. It might even convince Tipper Gore that heavy metal thunder is all in good fun.
– Kyle Smith,
New York Post,
21 Apr 2006
fresh:
This documentary about one of the most loathed, lampooned and beloved music genres isn't the kind of film to rock your world, though it may well inspire laughter.
– Manohla Dargis,
New York Times,
21 Apr 2006
fresh:
The metal scene emerges throughout the documentary as the recruitment center of an army of misfits, where the outcasts of the world can seek each other out based on their love of the angsty, eardrum-destroying tunes their parents warned them about.