Since its beginnings more than fifty years ago, metal music has grown in popularity worldwide, not only as a musical culture but increasingly as a recognised field of study. This Cambridge Companion reflects the maturing field of 'metal music studies' by introducing the music and its cultures, as well as recent research perspectives from disciplines ranging from musicology and music technology to religious studies, Classics, and Scandinavian and African studies. Topics covered include technology and practice, identity and culture, modern metal genres, and global metal, with reference to performers including Black Sabbath, Metallica and Amon Amarth. Designed for students and their teachers, contributions explore the various musical styles and cultures of metal, providing an informative introduction for those new to the field and an up-to-date resource for readers familiar with the academic metal literature.
1. Introduction Jan-Peter Herbst; 2. Get your double licks on route 666: the sonic evolution of heavy metal across five unholy decades Andrew L. Cope; Part I. Metal, Technology and Practice: Personal Take I. Russ Russell: 3. Mapping the origins of heaviness between 1970–1995: a historical overview of metal music production Jan-Peter Herbst and Mark Mynett; 4. Technical ecstasy: phenomenological perspectives of metal music production Niall Thomas; 5. Not from the mind but the heart: the metanarrative of being in a metal band Hale Fulya Çelikel; 6. Timbral metrics for analysis of metal production: then, now and what next? Duncan Williams; Part II. Metal and History: Personal Take II – Brian Tatler: 7. Mesopotamian metal: learning from the past through metal music? Peter Pichler; 8. Sparta and metal music's reception of ancient history Jeremy J. Swist; 9. Viking metal: obsessed with the past? Imke von Helden; Part III. Metal and Identity: Personal Take III. Yasmine Shadrack: 10. Metal Identities and Self-Talk: Internal Conversations of Belonging, Empowerment, Wellbeing and Resilience Paula Rowe; 11. Metal in Women: Music, Empowerment, Misogyny Rosemary Lucy Hill; 12. Refuse/Resist: what does it mean for metal to be transgressive in the 21st Century? Catherine Hoad; Part IV. Metal Activities: Personal Take VI. Richard Taylor: 13. Metal as leisure space and tourism industry destination Karl Spracklen; 14. Dance practices in metal Daniel Suer; 15. Battle jackets: wearing metal identity Thomas Cardwell; Part V. Modern Metal Genres: Personal Take V. Arne Jamelle: 16. On Horseback they carried thunder: the second lives of Norwegian black metal Ross Hagen; 17. Subgenre qualifiers and prescribed creativity in technical death metal Lewis F. Kennedy; 18. From 'Stereotyped Postures' to 'Credible Avant-garde Strategies': The Alchemical Transformation of Drone Metal Owen Coggins; 19. Djent and the aesthetics of post-digital metal Mark Marrington; 20. Contempt-of-core: a reception history of metalcore subgenres as abject genres Eric Smialek; Part VI. Global Metal: Personal Take IV. Malcolm Dome: 21. Metal in the Middle East Pierre Hecker; 22. Asian metal rising: metal scene formation in the world's most populous region Jeremy Wallach; 23. Distortions in the last frontier: metal music in Africa Edward Banchs; 24. What has Latin American metal music ever done for us?: a call for an ethics of affront in metal Musics Nelson Varas-Díaz and Daniel Nevárez Araújo; 25. Pioneers and provocateurs: Australian metal music, distance and disregard Samuel Vallen.
Jan-Peter Herbst is Reader in Music Production at the University of Huddersfield, UK, where he is Director of the Research Centre for Music, Culture and Identity (CMCI). His primary research area is popular music culture, in particular rock/metal music and the electric guitar.
