“Into the Void: Life, Death, and Heavy Metal,” an eight-part series that documents the struggles and dark sides of the heavy metal industry, debuted on the streaming service Disney+ on Monday, Sep 22. Through archival footage and interviews with some of heavy metal’s most iconic musicians, the series offers a fresh, compelling, and at times deeply emotional look into the culture of heavy metal.
It is worth noting, however, that the show not only touches on pure heavy metal itself, but also on the many subgenres that exist within it including thrash, gothic and power metal. Some of the musicians chronicled in the series include the legendary guitarist and co-founder of Quiet Riot Randy Rhoads, Wendy O. Williams, the frontwoman of the punk rock band Plasmatics and Darrell Lance Abbott, better known professionally as Dimebag Darrell, the co-founder of the heavy metal groups Pantera and Damageplan. Abbott, like Rhoads, also met a tragic fate when he was murdered while performing onM stage in Ohio in 2004.
While the episodes are non-chronological and can be watched in any order the viewer pleases, certain ones stick out including episode one, “Randy Rhoads,” which follows Rhoads’ rise as one of the greatest guitar heroes until his sudden and tragic passing in a plane crash in March 1982. Episode seven, “Anne Boleyn of Hellion,” details the struggles of being a female punk rocker in a mostly male-dominated music sector, while episode seven, “Iranian Metal Crusade,” follows the rise and fall of teens Nikan Khosravi and Arash Ilkhani, the founders of the anti-establishment Confess, who, along with their bandmates, would spend a combined total of 14.5 years in Iranian prison due to their songs detailing their anti-religion and anti-government views.
However, episode three, “Judas Priest on Trial,” doesn’t just focus on a single person or group of persons involved in the heavy metal scene, but instead offers a compelling and highly emotional look at the stigma that has been attached to heavy metal and so-called “dangerous” and “violent” music genres for decades. When two Nevada teens decide to take their own lives after supposedly seeing subliminal messages in “Better You, Better Than Me,” a track off Judas Priest’s 1978 album “Stained Class,” the band found themselves under heavy media scrutiny and at the center of a highly publicized civil action lawsuit. However, watching the legendary group redeem themselves despite this setback leaves the viewers feeling satisfied.
For decades, power and heavy metal rock has provided a sense of meaning, empowerment and belonging in life for millions of people. “Into the Void” pays tribute to just some of the single most influential people and groups throughout the history of the genre. While it’s easy to focus on the more sinister aspects of the show, such as the devastating deaths of some of the musicians featured, the key takeaway from the documentary series is the enduring resilience, creativity and community that has been cultivated across generations.
Rating: 4.7/5