Writer and broadcaster John Doran (The Quietus, The Guardian, BBC) claims that heavy metal is the last true form of mass modernism and traces some of its many revolutionary stages in half a century of cultural invention and reinvention, starting with Black Sabbath in Aston, Birmingham in 1970 and spreading to every corner of the globe, taking in Mayhem, Napalm Death and SunnO))) along the way.

Artist-filmmaker Sapphire Goss creates a live visual accompaniment collaged from archive, 8mm and VHS footage to form enigmatic and haunted imagery. The soundtrack is a unique live mix of music specially created for the evening by Norwegian art rock group Årabrot, Mark Pilkington of Strange Attractor Press & electronic artist Ghost Writer.

Everything combines to make a unique live cinema experience.  

Credits
Words | John Doran 
Film | Sapphire Goss 
Music | Årabrot, Mark Pilkington and Ghost Writer 

John Doran has been writing about all forms of heavy metal for over 20 years and has interviewed Slayer, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Jimmy Page, Napalm Death, Mastodon, Judas Priest, Voivod, Machine Head, Pantera, Slipknot, Celtic Frost, Carcass and Deftones. 

John is the co-founder and editor of The Quietus website. He is a writer, author and broadcaster. He published the acclaimed memoir about alcoholism, habitual drug use and mental illness, Jolly Lad, for Strange Attractor in 2015, which was described by The Guardian as "the most painfully perceptive book about addiction, while still being very funny".

He wrote and presented The Cult Of Aphex Twin for BBC Radio 4 which won Gold Medal for best documentary at the New York Festival Radio Awards 2019. His series, New Weird Britain, aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2019. He has also been a regular guest and presenter on Late Junction (BBC Radio 3) and the Freakier Zone (BBC Radio 6).

He has been writing about heavy metal, underground and weird music for 20 years. He is currently writing two books on music.