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Canadian academic Sam Dunn's social history of Heavy Metal is a very personal documentary that handles the small stuff well. However, the big stuff - the profound sociological insights promised by Dunn's studious approach - never really materialise. This weighty treatment of the Satan-in-spandex world is the wrong kind of heavy. A worldwide voyage to meet Metal's great and good, and their interesting followers, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey is still enjoyable whether you're a fan of the music or not.

Part of what distinguishes many Metallers from other musicians is their self-awareness. Most see the pompous theatre of heavy rock for what it is. The wickedly dry poster-boy for this postmodern knowingness is Alice Cooper, one of Dunns's best interviewees. Along with Ronnie James Dio and Twisted Sister's Dee Snider, he shows that the men behind the fright wigs and leather lunchboxes of metal are astute, articulate and urbane masters of self-promotion.

"EXHAUSTIVELY THOROUGH"

Alongside the interviews, Dunn does an exhaustively thorough job of explaining Metal's many sub-genres. It's an excellent primer for anybody wanting an overview of Metal, but such thoroughness does mean that the film tries to cover a huge amount in a short space of time. The murderous, church-burning tales of Norway's Black Metal scene warrant an entire film of their own.

Dunn shows the men (and they are nearly all men) behind Heavy Metal to be savvy and abnormally well-adjusted people, who use their music like primal scream therapy. Metal: A Headbanger's Journey is his attempt, as an academic, to legitimise and intellectualise his passion for the music, but the only conclusion he can find is that he really likes to rock.

Metal: A Headbanger's Journey is released in UK cinemas on Friday 28th April 2006.