The History of Heavy Metal is a Swedish 2001 documentary movie made for TV spanning through the timeline of heavy metal music. It starts with the roots of heavy metal and ends with the metal of present times. Through interviews and archive material, the movie tries to give answers on many questions, including "which was the first heavy metal band?". It was produced by Malik Bendjelloul and edited by Mikael Björnsson and Johan Larsson for Barracuda Film & TV.
The documentary also focuses on the three "enemies" of heavy metal including punk rock, glam metal and grunge.
The movie was presented in TV by Backyard Babies singer Dregen and TV host Per Sinding-Larsen.
