In the 1980s, a drummer is abandoned by his band just before they become rock superstars. Twenty years later, the drummer sees his second chance at stardom arise when he is asked to perform with his teenage nephew's high school rock band.
The film describes the microcosmos of the small village Wacken and shows the clash of the cultures, before and during the biggest heavy metal festival in Europe.
Recorded live on April 3, 1985 at Studio 54 in New York. Live footage and interviews with Slayer, Venom & Exodus. Venom's live clips are from other videos because Mantas had chickenpox.
In different times and spaces, genres like Death Metal are born. The early 90′s were still full of the 80′s vibe of over-consumption & greed, which found it’s way into everyday life, even into the music that was created. Just like hardcore in the early 80′s, not all of the teenagers of this decade wanted to hear the bubblegum pop that had invaded the airwaves. Death Metal did not want to be digested by the masses, and as a sub culture it was totally happy being the outsider. I’m not sure what was in the water in Florida during the late 80′s, because those kids were on some next shit, and they helped push the genre to other heights. When you are living in a certain period of time, you do realize that the life you are living could become historic to others in the future.
In the winter of 1988, in the depths of the Iraq/Iran war, the border town of Halabja was attacked by chemical weapons with all its people and their different stories.
Bob Larson interviews various metal bands and talks about their satanic influence on the youth. Featuring Slayer, Lȧȧz Rockit, and some lame Christian Metal guy.
