A new crowdfunded film is about to hit the screen, an eye-opening look into one of music’s heavier sub-genres.
The Doom Doc is set to premiere at the Showroom cinema on 9th July, and there will also be a Q+A session afterwards featuring Connor Matheson (director/producer), Joe Allen (Holy Spider/Kurokuma) and Rob Graham (Drenge, ex-Wet Nuns).
Made on a shoestring budget, The Doom Doc provides an immersive and visceral look into doom, a super slow sub-genre of heavy metal. Sheffield filmmaker Connor Matheson follows the story of Holy Spider, a group of doom gig promoters in Sheffield and speaks to Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward, Crowbar’s Kirk Windstein, Conan, Slabdragger and Primitive Man, as well as up-and-coming, underground UK bands such as Kurokuma and Under.
The film also explores issues such as drug use, mental health and gentrification through the lens of heavy music. This is the first documentary ever made on UK doom, sludge and stoner – a scene that traces its roots all the way back to Black Sabbath’s debut in 1970 but is currently thriving like never before.
Joe Allen, member of Sheffield sludge outfits Kurokuma and Holy Spider, told Exposed: “I was lucky enough to be involved from the start because the director, Connor, wanted to follow the story of myself putting on gigs in Sheffield – as Holy Spider – and playing drums in my band, Kurokuma. As the project progressed I started to help out a lot more with my contacts around the country and I ended up becoming a bit of an assistant producer on it myself.
I’ve watched it through a few times in all its various forms and it’s really, really good. It tells the story of heavy music in Sheffield through bands like Wet Nuns and Kurokuma, and then broadens out into the bigger picture with people like Bill Ward from Black Sabbath and Kirk Windstein from US band, Crowbar.
The premiere will be something special as well. The Showroom have already announced it’s sold out their smallest screen so it’s been bumped up to a bigger room now. I can’t wait.”
Tickets for the premiere (£8.80 or £6.60 for concessions), for tickets and more information about the documentary click here