Watch Heavy: The Story of Metal Online - Full Episodes

Heavy: The Story of Metal is a documentary covering the history of metal music and the controversies which have plagued it since its inception. Part one discusses its creation, from the dark sounds of Black Sabbath to the driving blues-rock of Led Zeppelin. Part two focuses on the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, with bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, and clues to the origins of the infamous devil horns hand gesture provided by Ronnie James Dio. Part three centers around the 80s glam metal movement and the Parents Music Resource Center cases focusing on censorship. Part four covers thrash metal and the rise of bands like Metallica and Megadeth. The film provides a consistent balance between an exploration of the music and the associations, both positive and negative, that it has garnered over the years.

A large number of the interviews are with the musicians themselves, including members of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Metallica. Additional commentary is provided by a variety of DJs, producers and music journalists. The sometimes raucous commentary provided by the musicians is balanced well with the objective nature of the documentary.

Additionally, the documentary touches on lesser known sub-genres such as black metal. It brings to light the reasoning for the church burnings associated with some of the more well-known bands of the music. It also delves into modern metal genres, like nu-metal, and provides the optimistic suggestion that we are approaching a golden age of the music.

Heavy: The Story of Metal was produced by 441 Productions and distributed by VH1 Television. The run time for each part is 43 minutes, made to fit in a one-hour time slot.