MVD Entertainment Group has set September 22, 2026 as the digital release date for "Heavy Healing", a documentary arguing the opposite of everything metal fans have been told about their own record collections.
The premise is straightforward. For as long as the music has existed, fans of heavy metal and hardcore punk have been informed by parents, teachers and religious leaders that these genres are not music but noise — disorderly, violent, and actively harmful to young people. "Heavy Healing" collects the testimony of people for whom the exact opposite proved true.
The film speaks to artists, fans and industry figures who leaned on aggressive music — or in some cases made it — while working through cancer, anxiety and depression, strokes, heart attacks, cerebral palsy, blood diseases, diabetes and HIV/AIDS.
Among those appearing are Jesse Leach of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, Lou Koller of SICK OF IT ALL, Mike IX Williams of EYEHATEGOD, Vinnie Stigma of AGNOSTIC FRONT, Eddie "Sutton" Pomponio of LEEWAY, Brian "Mitts" Daniels formerly of MADBALL, Adam Blake of H2O, Jimmy G. Drescher of MURPHY'S LAW, Jimi Hazel of 24-7 SPYZ, Michael "Kaves" McLeer of LORDZ OF BROOKLYN, Jesse Malin, Jaret Reddick of BOWLING FOR SOUP and Michael Alago, the A&R executive who signed METALLICA and WHITE ZOMBIE.
The film began with one of its own producers. Music business veteran Seth Abrams suffered an aortic dissection followed by a left-side paralysing stroke at 34, and in 2019 endured seizures and a brain infection that erased his short-term memory.
"I've survived several severe, life-altering medical ordeals," Abrams says. "When you strip away the doctors and family and friends' support, it's the music that gets you through it all. In my case, I specifically leaned on SUICIDAL TENDENCIES' 'You Can't Bring Me Down'."
Director Howie Abrams — formerly of In-Effect Records, Roadrunner, Jive/Zomba and Warner Chappell, and author of ten books including biographies of Vinnie Stigma and H.R. of BAD BRAINS — makes his directorial debut here. "As someone who has worked with underground bands for over four decades, I've encountered far too many musicians who are forced to cope with one disorder or another," he says. "It's incredible to see how they've been able to rely on the extreme music we grew up with to help them remain motivated and to recover."
Cinematography comes from New York photographer and videographer Jammi York, whose two decades of work range from live music and fashion to protests in Nicaragua and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Source: blabbermouth.net