Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 256-265).

The extreme metal subculture is a collective of musical genres that are generally more sonically aggressive and experimental than heavy metal. This dissertation argues that extreme metal and its accompanying culture can be beneficial to young Black musicians and fans, as it allows for more creative freedom for artists to express themselves within a music culture that on the surface, is concerned more with the music than the visual aesthetics that drive mainstream music genres. However, through my own experience as a Black woman metal fan, I also believe that anti-black racism can be a distinct detractor in active participation within this music culture that because of its absence in mainstream popular music culture, is dependent on its listening audience to stay even more independent.With each chapter, I look at various issues to demonstrate these ideas while also acknowledging that extreme metal shares some of the same sociocultural complications as heavy metal, such as racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism, and homophobia. I explore how black participants who are currently involved in their respective scenes find freedom and individualism despite the challenges they could face. This dissertation is interdisciplinary in nature, as I refer to scholarship from several disciplines to explore how, despite the reluctance from scholars to properly acknowledge the contributions of African American within heavier variations of rock n’ roll, there are sonic, lyrical, and philosophical correlations between the freedom expressed within the music and lyricism of blues music, as well as in Avant Garde jazz stylings, and extreme metal. My methodological process was grounded on providing the “subaltern” a voice: It was crucial to offer space to Black musicians within extreme metal genres to document not just their musical experiences, but their abilities to work within a music culture that has been historically marked as “white-centric” in its music and its aggression. This is no easy feat, but I argue that with each year, there are more Black artists getting involved within their respective extreme music scenes as musicians, fans and industry workers who work behind the scenes as journalists, photographers, and tour managers. I also provide anecdotes from my own experiences as a longtime fan, a music journalist and my knowledge that was gained through my previous work researching and writing a book on the experiences of Black women within the heavy metal, hardcore and punk scenes. Through interviews and examples from my experiences covering extreme heavy metal concerts and festivals, this dissertation effectively blends scholarship and real-life examples that I believe encapsulates the issues that Black extreme metal participants are presently experiencing. I conclude my dissertation with suggestions about the ways in which Black fans can participate within a music culture that is marked with the current political and social climate. By noting that extreme metal genres have been used as a vehicle by White Nationalist groups to recruit members, as well as in sharing disinformation, I provide ideas that participants can use to ensure their safety to enjoy the music they are passionate about. Overall, my philosophy is that extreme metal is not only an enjoyable music but can also be a vehicle for progressive change: The aggression and the energy has been a lifesaver for myself and all my interlocutors as a method to acknowledge and release the frustrations and anger that we feel in living in an unjust society. I am especially concerned with Black youth, as expressions of anger omitted within public spaces could potentially lead to violence enacted on their bodies. Extreme metal allows Black youth to express these emotions within spaces that are shared with a myriad of people from various backgrounds, but we must find productive ways to deter Black youths from internalizing their pain and anger and exploring and advocating for healthy ways they can express these emotions with others who share the same feelings. While these extreme metal scenes come with their own complications, I hope this dissertation serves as a beginning in exploring alternative ways to express our own individuality in whatever manner we choose to.

The research study, Caught between Christianity and the hard rock: A narrative study, presents, explores and discusses the stories of Christian hard rock musicians from a predetermined Christian hard rock band, comprising of four members. The study takes a narrative approach at exploring and discussing the participants’ stories, which comprise the qualitative data for the study. The stories were collected by means of four individual semi-structured interviews and a group unstructured interview. The interviews sought to ask the participants certain questions to hear and collect their stories pertaining to the various narratives interplaying in their lives as Christian hard rock musicians. Following collection and transcription of these stories, the stories were analysed according to interpretive narrative analysis, according to Riessman, with reference to Labov’s 6 elements of transcription. Such stories were subsequently reported and discussed within the research study from a narrative theoretical point of departure. This allows for the reader to gain an understanding of the various narratives interplaying in the lives of Christian hard rock musicians, and the significance of such narratives and their experiences, which ultimately is assumed to influence the participants’ daily lives. Ultimately, the study facilitates for the participants to tell their stories as they wished to tell them, in terms of how they may be “caught between Christianity and the hard rock” music genre. Subsequently the study also serves for the reader to gain a narrative understanding as to how the band members understand themselves and their band to be in the world. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Psychology / unrestricted

A cultura de massa (midiática) tem sido tradicionalmente considerada pouco criativa, alienada e, portanto, menos relevante do que as formas artísticas clássicas e canônicas. Sua incapacidade de se relacionar com a sociedade de outro modo que não como produto disponível no mercado fariam dela mero sustento da lógica de consumo. Propomos no presente trabalho a observação desta forma de cultura a partir de uma outra perspectiva. Com base em teorias Pós-Coloniais, da Complexidade e do Letramento Crítico, mostramos que a alienação da cultura de massa não lhe é uma característica intrínseca, mas uma construção feita a partir de práticas sociais cotidianas. Sendo uma construção, a alienação pode ser desconstruída, e a cultura pode tornar-se crítica, política, socialmente interessada e interessante. Trabalhamos com esta hipótese analisando o heavy metal, tomado como manifestação cultural (de massa) tradicionalmente identificada com a rebeldia e a contestação cultural e social. Observamos diferentes estratégias de dissidência a que recorrem roqueiros e headbangers, constatando que rupturas mais profundas com o conformismo alienado emergem de sua participação crítica em sua cultura musical, na cultura de massa e na sociedade de consumo. A confirmação de tal constatação foi obtida pela análise (multimodal) de um caso, representado pela banda sueca Pain of Salvation. / Mass culture has been traditionally associated with lack of creativity and alienation, being considered less valuable and interesting than classic and canonic forms of Culture and Art. Its only role in society would be that of a commodity. It would be destined to serve consumption. The aim of our research is to offer a change in the perspective from which we see mass culture. Based on concepts and ideas coming from Postcolonial theories, Social Complexity and Critical Literacy, we can see alienation not as an intrinsic quality of mass culture, but as a construction that is socially produced. Therefore, we work on the hypothesis that, being a construction, alienation can be deconstructed, and culture can be made critical, political, socially interested and interesting. In order to confirm this, heavy metal music, traditionally identified with both cultural and social resistance and disobedience, was taken for analysis. We could, then, observe the different strategies of dissidence adopted by rockers and headbangers, finally concluding that deeper ruptures with alienated conformity emerge from their critical participation in the music culture, in mass culture, and in the consumer society. Final conclusions on this were made after the multimodal analysis of a case, represented by the Swedish band Pain of Salvation.

Thesis (M.A.)--Cincinnati Christian University, 2009. / Includes abstract and vita. Bibliography: l. 134-140.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to assess the experience of extreme metal musicians. Using a qualitative approach, 23 texts on the topic of "Why I like metal" were analysed. These reference texts were written by death, black, and thrash metal musicians. Additionaly, an interview and artifacts analysis was conducted. Based on the qualitative approach, 12 categories representing the experience of metal musicians were formulated. However, this view did not correspond with the general notion of extreme metal. Two views, one "from the inside" and another "from the outside" of the metal community, were thus formed. Based on the growing dissonance of these two views, the theoretical concept of hermeneutice of suspicion was applied. Based on this interpretative stratégy, four areas have been identified, in which metal musicians mask metal aggresion, primitiveness, incomprehension and inaccessibility. KEYWORDS Metal music, experience of musicians, analysis of texts, analysis of interview and artefacts, hermeneutics of suspicion,

A cultura de massa (midiática) tem sido tradicionalmente considerada pouco criativa, alienada e, portanto, menos relevante do que as formas artísticas clássicas e canônicas. Sua incapacidade de se relacionar com a sociedade de outro modo que não como produto disponível no mercado fariam dela mero sustento da lógica de consumo. Propomos no presente trabalho a observação desta forma de cultura a partir de uma outra perspectiva. Com base em teorias Pós-Coloniais, da Complexidade e do Letramento Crítico, mostramos que a alienação da cultura de massa não lhe é uma característica intrínseca, mas uma construção feita a partir de práticas sociais cotidianas. Sendo uma construção, a alienação pode ser desconstruída, e a cultura pode tornar-se crítica, política, socialmente interessada e interessante. Trabalhamos com esta hipótese analisando o heavy metal, tomado como manifestação cultural (de massa) tradicionalmente identificada com a rebeldia e a contestação cultural e social. Observamos diferentes estratégias de dissidência a que recorrem roqueiros e headbangers, constatando que rupturas mais profundas com o conformismo alienado emergem de sua participação crítica em sua cultura musical, na cultura de massa e na sociedade de consumo. A confirmação de tal constatação foi obtida pela análise (multimodal) de um caso, representado pela banda sueca Pain of Salvation. / Mass culture has been traditionally associated with lack of creativity and alienation, being considered less valuable and interesting than classic and canonic forms of Culture and Art. Its only role in society would be that of a commodity. It would be destined to serve consumption. The aim of our research is to offer a change in the perspective from which we see mass culture. Based on concepts and ideas coming from Postcolonial theories, Social Complexity and Critical Literacy, we can see alienation not as an intrinsic quality of mass culture, but as a construction that is socially produced. Therefore, we work on the hypothesis that, being a construction, alienation can be deconstructed, and culture can be made critical, political, socially interested and interesting. In order to confirm this, heavy metal music, traditionally identified with both cultural and social resistance and disobedience, was taken for analysis. We could, then, observe the different strategies of dissidence adopted by rockers and headbangers, finally concluding that deeper ruptures with alienated conformity emerge from their critical participation in the music culture, in mass culture, and in the consumer society. Final conclusions on this were made after the multimodal analysis of a case, represented by the Swedish band Pain of Salvation.

Metal music is a term that currently serves as a designation for a plethora of different subgenres. The main goal of this work is to find a process that is shared between given subgenres of metal music. The search is based on the non-essentialist position of Gilles Deleuze's philosophy of difference. For this reason, the first focus of the work is extensive excursion into this philosophy, to which it devotes it's first chapter. In it, through analysis of Difference and Repetition, it creates a thought and conceptual basis for the processual perception of ideas as multiplicities, a position that makes it possible to examine the process of becoming. From this position, the second chapter focuses on metal music and it's main characteristic quality - heaviness, and examines the ways in which music can become heavy. Keywords: Gilles Deleuze, metal music, heaviness, difference, becoming, multiplicity, intensity

This thesis conducts a cultural analysis examining the claim of metal music being gendered as masculine. An autophenomenographical approach is taken and carried out through an affective analysis combined with a feminist analysis of sound. By studying the author’s own perception of industrial metal, this research looks at the effect and affect that this genre of music can have on a woman, as well as inquires whether it is necessary to label the genre with binary gender terms such as masculine or feminine. The presented conclusions also encourage the question to be posed in relation to a broader spectrum of music.

This thesis is an ethnomusicological cross-cultural examination of Heavy Metal, Hardcore Punk and Metalcore music-cultures and how the transculturation of two distinct music-cultures, Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk, have resulted in a third unique music-culture: Metalcore. Attention is given to the evolution of the music-cultures through history, with mention of current trends not covered in any other literature. In addition explanations of key tenets of culture-ways and their importance in forming these cultures as separate and distinct will be included. Topics addressed will include headbanging, the sign of the horns and moshing in Heavy Metal; slam-dancing, Straight Edge, and the do-it-yourself principles of Hardcore Punk; the commercial commoditization and establishment of Metalcore as separate and unique from both Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk. In addition, a brief assessment of material culture will be included, covering the importance of musical instruments, art, and fashion. Fashion is especially important in forming ties with respective communities, personal interest groups, and establishing personal identity within the music-cultures. Both secondary source, as well as qualitative research will be used. While much of the history and culture-ways of Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk have been well documented throughout the 1970s there is a lack of literature concerning either culture since the 1990s and 2000s. With the exception of only a few sources, there is little material addressing Metalcore, or Crossover Thrash music-culture. As a participant within Heavy Metal culture I will offer my own personal observations, as well as those of informants, to extend and support the documentary research findings.