Iranian death metal exists, and the government has NO idea.
In GLOBAL METAL, directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn set out to discover how the West's most maligned musical genre - heavy metal - has impacted the world's cultures beyond Europe and North America. The film follows metal fan and anthropologist Sam Dunn on a whirlwind journey through Asia, South America and the Middle East as he explores the underbelly of the world's emerging extreme music scenes; from Indonesian death metal to Chinese black metal to Iranian thrash metal. GLOBAL METAL reveals a worldwide community of metalheads who aren't just absorbing metal from the West - they're transforming it - creating a new form of cultural expression in societies dominated by conflict, corruption and mass-consumerism.
Direction
Dunn actually risks his safety filming underground Iranian shows.
Production
Access to scenes Western cameras never reach.
Writing
Smart anthropology without the academic pretension.
Director
Sam Dunn
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Dunn's follow-up to Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, this time asking WHO gets to belong to metal culture—not just white working-class dudes.
The Iranian scene shown has since faced crackdowns; several musicians featured fled or were imprisoned, making this footage increasingly precious.
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