Article By: Pat ‘Riot’ Whitaker ‡ Edited By: Leanne Ridgeway
In recent years, it seems that the documentary format of film has become a popular way to document varying aspects of the musical realm.
If you’re like me, then you absolutely love a good music doc, sometimes even better than you might like the particular band that it is about, ha! I don’t think this will be the case when the Death By Digital filmmakers premiere their new documentary on grindcore metal, ‘Slave To The Grind‘, on April 21 at the Calgary Underground Film Festival.
‘Slave To The Grind’ promises to present an in-depth delving into some of the most brutal, extremest metal on this planet. Exploring the ins and outs of this loud, chaotic world of noise, putting it all into perspective using the very words and insights of the musicians making it.
Director Doug Brown clearly feels strongly about grindcore’s place in extreme music, saying:
“Grindcore truly has a history that is shared by both punks and metal heads. On one hand you have the 80’s hardcore scene. You have this swell of hardcore coming through the UK that was pissed off and politically charged. On the other hand, you have the beginnings of death metal around the time of the first wave of thrash. Grindcore fused metal and punk in a way that isn’t just ‘half of one and half of the other.’ Grindcore is very much it’s own thing. History is so important, and the goal of documentary film-making is storytelling. The history of grindcore has not been told in documentary form and I am excited to show the world what we’ve made.”
Speaking on the support and input he’s received from the scene, he elaborates:
“This film was done with the support of a community. We had the pleasure of sifting through nearly 1,000 hours of raw fan submitted concert footage. We conducted nearly 100 hours of interviews with 72 subjects from around the globe. A project of this magnitude was made possible because of the support from the bands and fans since day one. We are honored to be making this film along side the heavy music community.”
Check out the trailer for the film streaming below and stay up-to-date on events, along with future screenings of ‘Slave To The Grind’, by following their Facebook page HERE.
