Black Black Metal: The new wave of South African rock music

This is South Africa’s burgeoning punk and metal scene in the heart of Soweto.

Music has always had the ability to both define a population’s culture and function as a bridge between communities. In South Africa, rock music has for the most part been limited to white communities. But, according to a short film by Johannesburg-based writer and filmmaker Wim Steytler, a “microscopic” group of black punk and metal is emerging in the country’s historic Soweto township in the city of Johannesburg.

Just over seven minutes long, Black Black Metal is a brief look at an emerging culture that is challenging longheld stereotypes about music and how music is related to race in South Africa, a culturally segregated society.

The documentary follows skate kids and members of bands like Reeburth and Demogoroth Satanum as they navigate this unique world.