CREATED BY EVERYTHING IS STORIES
PRODUCED BY MIKE MARTINEZ AND TYLER WRAY
DIRECTOR: CLARKE TOLTON
USING MULTIPLE INTERVIEWS WITH NAVAJO (“DINÉ”) BANDS AND INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THE SCENE, THIS STORY EXPLORES THE POPULARITY OF THE METAL GENRE ON THE RESERVATION, THE CREATION OF “REZ METAL” IN THE 1980S, AND THE JUXTAPOSITION OF OLD AND NEW NAVAJO TRADITIONS. IN THIS STORY WE FIND A DIY METAL SHOW, POWERED BY A GENERATOR, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ARIZONA DESERT; A POPULAR REZ METAL BAND PRACTICING IN A HOGAN, AN OCTAGONAL TRADITIONAL NAVAJO DWELLING, AND STORIES FROM METAL HEADS BOTH YOUNG AND OLD. THROUGH THE LENS OF HEAVY METAL, THIS STORY CAPTURES THE GENERAL ANARCHY AND LACK OF AUTHORITY COMMON ON THE RESERVATION, AS WELL AS ISSUES OF MARGINALIZATION AMONGST NATIVE PEOPLES. METAL FROM THE DIRT EXAMINES THE LINK BETWEEN HEAVY METAL AND NATIVE PRIDE.