Metal Evolution

Tracing the origins of metal is a phantasmagoric odyssey that traverses cities and countries, oceans and continents. From Memphis' Sun Studio to The Kinks in England.

Darker, heavier music in the sounds of Steppenwolf and Blue Cheer. Followed by the inspired and inspiring sound of Kiss and Aerosmith. Van Halen begins a decade's worth of dominance for the uniquely party hardy metal of America.

Pouncing on the power of heavy metal, bands such as Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Trapeze and Slade were crafting their own loud sounds in response to the bleak industrial environment of Britain's Midlands.

Heavy metal was now boldly out of the closet, Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Saxon, Raven and Def Leppard seethed out of the gates with fast, technical, uncompromising metal music, building a fanatical, energized movement.

Purveyors of glam such as Bon Jovi, Cinderella and Quiet Riot will divulge their side of the story, revealing the attitudes, influences and decisions which guided them during those days of rampant excess on L.A.'s sunset strip.

Next in the evolution of Metal comes a virulent strain called thrash, with the likes of Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax wreaking vengeance on hook and melody through a rhythmic discipline executed at breakneck tempos topped by harshly barked vocals.

While grunge was enjoying its meteoric rise, replacing the MTV face of Metal that was glam with its own brand of telegenic, easy to digest "rebellion," diehards within the Metal community struggled to adjust.

Sam Dunn chronicles the rise and fall of nu metal; starting with pivotal acts Rage Against The Machine, Faith No More and Tool and continuing to pioneering nu metal artists like Korn and Deftones.

Starting with the ringmaster of mayhem himself, Alice Cooper, we visit a world of guillotines and gallows, electrocutions and sorcery. We'll then learn how NYC's Kiss dethroned Cooper by taking spectacle one giant leap forward.

Sam runs into his old friend Ronnie James Dio, who guides him into the fantastical world of power metal, where masculine tales of heroism and epic battles, dragon-slaying and sorcery, burn into the the imaginations of young men.

A genre that takes root with the likes of Rush in the '70s, Queensryche and Fates Warning in the '80s, and Dream Theater in the '90s. Since then, the genre has exploded with creativity, spawning mind-bending, genre-defying acts.