Metal Music Studies - Current Issue

William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1793) exemplifies his Romantic view of religion as a personal spiritual expression while sarcastically critiquing extreme religious stances like those of his contemporary Emanuel Swedenborg. This article examines three metal music transformations of Blake’s work: A Plea for Purging’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (2010), Virgin Steele’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell – Part I and Part II (1994, 1995) and Ulver’s Themes from William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1998). The analysis finds parallelisms between Blake’s take on religion and rebellion in the Romantic era and metal music’s treatment of the same topics, particularly in terms of opposites: heaven and hell, good and evil, authority and freedom. Since both Blake and the albums under scrutiny challenge institutionalized religion and embrace creative liberty as a means of resistance, metal music preserves Blake’s vision of art as a vehicle for raising awareness and driving societal change. Moreover, this study not only highlights the enduring relevance of Blake’s work to contemporary audiences and its profound resonance within the metal genre, but it also illustrates how metal music, often seen as radical, can produce nuanced reflections on individualism and social dynamics, much like Blake’s own balancing of opposites.

This article explores metal music’s lyrical and aesthetic reception of the Norse mythological hero Thor, both as a tragi-comic figure evoking humour and pathos and as a mythological figure that lends itself to poses that incorporate outsider tropes. The anti-establishment and anti-conformist attitudes of metal music are freely adopted by Viking metal but surface in a unique stance against the Christianization of space deemed Pagan along with the resulting infringement of social, political and cultural boundaries, which in turn raise questions about the status of difference, diversity and plurality in Viking metal. Thor is also an ideological marker for reconstructionist notions of ethnic and religious identity. The god’s mythological narrative gives a particular shape to the memory of a past world, real or imagined, and an apocalyptic dream of a future one. We discuss examples of both serious and ironic or theatrical appropriations of the figure of Thor in metal music, drawing attention to how these stances relate to deep and surface appropriations of the Viking ethos and to spatial (local vs. global) and temporal variations. The final section of this article discusses Viking metal’s relation to reconstructionist neo-Paganism, its nostalgia for lost pre-Christian traditions and its problematic connections to German romanticism and the Völkisch movement of the late nineteenth century.

Logos provide instant brand identification, which also applies to music bands, where they must stand out among their competition through distinctive visual attributes. In the context of heavy metal bands, particularly in the death metal genre, the elaborate and heavily ornamented style of logotypes creates a challenge for easy identification, leading to potential or visual overload. Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to investigate how the complexity of readability in death metal band logos affects the identification, differentiation and retention of these groups. To achieve this, a triangulation of experiments was conducted. Initially, a questionnaire gathered quantitative data on desired attributes in a logo and qualitative responses from individuals with and without an affinity for metal music. Subsequently, interviews were conducted with corporate identity experts. Finally, musicians from Peruvian extreme metal bands were interviewed. This study indicates, first, that logotypes reflect the sonic-musical experience of extreme music, preserving a tradition and delivering a visual impact. Second, it emphasizes the importance of readability in corporate identity, aiding quick band recognition. Third, the silhouette and formal attributes of the logotype contribute to establishing a connection with the band, even if the textual content is not legible. Finally, it demonstrates the feasibility of balancing an aggressive aesthetic in line with extreme music with a visually understandable design for the target audience, serving as a promotional and dissemination tool for bands. These findings hold significance in comprehending logotype design within the realm of extreme metal bands, an underexplored subfield of corporate identity.

This article examines the impact of private, digitally driven music production on metal music culture. With the increased affordability, functionality and quality of computers and digital production technologies, musicians have been afforded the means to create recordings themselves. Advancements in digital music production, drum sampling and amplifier simulation have enabled high-quality replication of traditional sounds within a private production framework while encouraging sonic exploration. This study investigates the subculture of private metal musicians and the resulting digital production practices and aesthetics. We argue that, although deemed ‘abject’ by some metal purists, genres like djent that heavily rely on digital production have profoundly influenced metal culture. The once rejected ‘abject aesthetic’ of digital production has developed into commercially successful metal and become mainstream. Private production practices have not only shaped the sound of ‘modern metal’ subgenres like djent but also influenced established commercial studios and metal subgenres using their services.