Heavy as Film is an ongoing project to build the heavy metal cinema canon. This is the show that’s all about discovering exactly what it means for art across all media to be heavy metal. More than a heavy metal vibe check, Heavy as Film analyzes your favorite heavy movies to determine what films are metal and what subgenres and bands best represent those films.

The Heavy Metal Mode Critical Framework:

Heavy metal art sincerely commits to an extreme mission of confrontation. It presents challenging theses about people and the universe by forcing these theses into conflict. It does not apologize for its message, shield the viewer with irony, or guide the audience by making its artistry palatable. It is uncompromising in its artistic vision and displays a dedication to craft rarely matched elsewhere.

Heavy metal is characterized by existential confrontation. Depending on the subgenre, it will stage conflict between a variety of entities through a variety of devices. Whether it’s the extreme velocity and tongue-in-cheek aggression of thrash metal that challenges systems of power or the oppressive atmosphere and ritualized inevitability of black or drone metal that challenges the audience, metal is a confrontation. Metal is expressed through text, subtext, tone, style, and craft. It is a total commitment to existential confrontation as art. Metal does not inquire. It exposes.

Ultimately, heavy metal is defined by its function and structure. Functionally, metal stages confrontation. Structurally, it achieves this through conflict as the central organizing principle, employing subgenre-specific stylistic devices while displaying dedication to craft.

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Questions? Want to suggest a film? Reach out at heavyasfilm@gmail.com