Documentary About Metal in the Bible Belt Seeks Participants

Transplanted Californian and aspiring filmmaker AngelGrave spent her entire existence in the free-minded and metal-accepting Golden State until pulling anchor and heading to Walker County, Ga. in 2005. AngelGrave experienced extreme culture shock living in the dry county -- "no beer on Sundays and no hard stuff, ever," she told Noisecreep.

She went from enjoying a handful of metal shows and venues to practically nothing metallic in her new setting. "Metal stickers on your car make you an outcast, wearing a Deicide shirt makes you the devil himself, and I have never heard of a Christian venue until I moved out here. I thought my metal days were over until I started searching around and found that the South does have a metal scene. And a damn good one at that!"

Once she unearthed the region's metal haunts, she decided to document it, since "it is spread out but it is here, and no one will ever really know about unless it gets documented!" She is currently interviewing bands for 'Brutality on the Bible Belt,' which is designed to expose those not living in this closed-off area to the struggles and hardships of Southern metal bands, ranging from censorship and discrimination of their chosen art.

"One thing that just blew me away was that a lot of these venues will book a non-Christian band to play with the other Christian bands then not pay them," AngelGrave said. "They will also tell them they can't say certain lyrics. One venue even has a 'mosh box' in the middle of the floor and makes the bands pray before they hit the stage."

Some of the participants include: Coathangar Abortion, Undying Darkness, Lexion X, Severed Faith, Incarceri 9, S.M.I., Prime Mover, Xeroderma and Halcyon Way. Never heard of them? That's the point of this entire documentary, to provide some exposure on a scene that is bubbling under the radar of the larger metal scene. AngelGrave will conduct other interviews with the members of the various local religious communities, as well as with non-religious people to give views on the metal scene as well as the fans who have also been discriminated against by said people."

Other Southern metal bands interested in being featured should contact AngelGrave at the means below: Angelgravemetal@live.com, www.myspace.com/blaspherion1, www.keepermagazine.com. We're looking forward to seeing the finished product.